We don't need Friends
by stephen.hinojos
Summary: What if Evie had never been allowed to return to school at Dragon Hall? Then, the VK's wouldn't have been friends at the start of the Descendant's movie. Follow the story as each of the VK's take on Aurodon prep without the help of the others. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

Mal enjoyed a certain level of respect from the world around her. Thanks to her mother, she could literally do anything she wants. For example, on the morning that everything changed, she was on a rampage through the Bazaar. Her mother had given her the job of tracking down the Dragon's Eye. What her mother hadn't bothered telling her was that the staff was missing in the depths of her old castle. So when she and Jay had failed to find any information about it in the Dragon Hall's secret library, she decided that she was going to make sure that everyone in the Bazaar would suffer with her. Jay had fully agreed with the idea, but only because the more chaos she caused, the more he could steal. He figured that if he was able to steal enough "valuable" items from the Bazaar, the maybe his own father would overlook his failure at obtaining an item that would put Jafar back on the seat of power in the Isle of the Lost. Of course he was lying to himself, knowing full well that a ruthless beating and missing supper would probably be the least of his worries.

So when Maleficent and a couple of her goons arrived right after Mal literally stole candy from a baby, Mal and Jay both knew that the jig was up and it was time to face the music.

"Hi, Mom." Mal said with a forced smile.

"Stealing candy Mal? So disappointing." Maleficent spoke with disapproval.

"It was from a baby."

Maleficent's face instantly lit up.

"That's my nasty little girl." Maleficent replied, taking the treat that Mal offered her. She spat on it, wiped it off on her sleeve, and handed it to one of her henchmen.

"Give it back to the dreadful creature." Maleficent ordered, ignoring the deflated look on Mal's face.

"Mom…"

"It's the deeds, Mal, that make the difference between mean and truly evil." Maleficent waved to the baby and its mother as they quickly fled from the scene. "When I was your age, I was cursing entire kingdoms. Haha. Walk with me." Maleficent wrapped an arm around Mal's shoulder as she guided her away a couple of feet, leaving Jay alone with the henchmen.

"You see, I am just trying to teach you the things that truly count. How to be me."

"I know that and I'll do better."

"Oh, there's news. I've buried the lead. Haha. You two have been chosen to go to a different school in Aurodon."

Mal ignored the fact that Jay chose that moment to try and run. Unfortunately, Maleficent's henchmen had been warned and were more then ready for the escape attempt. They had positioned themselves behind Jay during the course of the conversation and were preventing him from doing little more than turning around. After a brief struggle Jay turned back to Maleficent, defeat plain on his face.

"What! I am not going to some boarding school filled to the brim with pretty pink princesses." Mal complained.

"Yeah, and I don't do uniforms, unless its leather, you feel me?" Jay added smoothly with the most charming laugh he could muster. Maleficent seemed a little perturbed by their open defiance, but decided to chalk it up to their upbringing.

"Yeah, Mom. We're not going."

"Oh," Maleficent huffed, "You're thinking small pumpkin. It's all about world domination." She smiled, lost in her imaginings for a brief second before snapping back to reality. "Knuckleheads!"

With that, she turned on her heals and marched toward her castle, her minions and the two kids following close behind.

Carlos ran as fast as he could across the rooftops. He and his two "friends," Jace and Harry had taken advantage of Mal and Jay targeting the Bazaar and had decided to grab some food from one of the arriving boats. They had been sorting through their haul of the least rotten food on the ship when a group of large, heavy set men had come around the corner and called his name. If there was one thing you learned on the island, it was that someone calling your name was not a good thing. Carlos and his minions bolted in different directions, Carlos opting for a nearby alleyway with a pile of crates that would allow him to quickly scamper to the rooftops. For most of Carlos' would be pursuers, this was a decent enough deterrent, but these guys were clearly determined to catch him. That meant that Carlos really didn't want to get caught by them.

Carlos bolted across the rooftops till he found a way that descended into the street near the entrance of the Bazaar. The way down was actually jumping from the low roof edge into a wagon of hay below. He quickly scampered out of the wagon and looked around. While the goons on the roof prepared to follow him down, a couple of others were coming up the street from his right. He turned and bolted toward the Bazaar. In his eagerness to escape, he failed to notice the single most evil villain on the Isle and her entourage ahead of him. Just as he was building speed, a strong hand rammed into his chest, sending Carlos flying backwards into the street. Carlos looked to see what had happened and found Maleficent stepping out from behind her henchman. Carlos could hear the guys behind him slowing down.

"Oh, Carlos De Vil, I was just looking for you."

Not good, Carlos thought to himself. He rose up from the ground and held up his hands.

"Whatever it is, I promise I didn't do it." Carlos all but pleaded. While he was taking cautious steps back, he had no intention of running, knowing full well there was nowhere he could go if Maleficent herself wanted him.

"Relax; you're not dying or being cursed today. But I do have a job for you. Come with me back to my abode and we will discuss it. Your mother is already waiting there." Her words did nothing to calm him down, but he fell into the procession behind her. It was only now that he noticed Mal and Jay. These two kids had made his day a living hell just a couple of days prior. First, Mal ordered him to throw her a party while his mother was away. Then, Carlos had gotten in trouble with his mom anyway when she had discovered her stuff had been tampered with. It took a full day for the cuts and bruises to heal enough that he could ignore them. He was also starving, seeing as he had nothing to eat for the past week. Now he was going to have to wait even longer to get something that resembled a decent meal.

Evie was shocked by the sudden change in status quo. After not inviting Mal to her party, Evie and her mother had been banished. Banished being a relative term as they obviously couldn't leave the Isle of the Lost. But now, Evie and her mother, The Evil Queen, were sitting in Maleficent's castle, waiting for her to return with the rest of the VK's. Evie had been informed of the proclamation while she and her mom were on their way over. As such, she had little interest in chatting with the room's other two occupants.

Cruella De Vil seemed to be obsessed with something on her coat, mumbling about pets and laundry. Meanwhile, Jafar was walking around the room, examining everything that looked expensive. Even her mother was keeping quiet, preferring the company of her mirror and the one who was reflected in it.

Everyone in the room seemed to be pulled from their own heads at the sound of the approaching footsteps. Evie watched as several people entered the room. First was Maleficent, who made a straight beeline for a chair that closely resembled a throne. It sat behind a desk on a raised section of the floor, giving the impression that whoever sat in it was the most important one. Mal came in almost right behind her mother, a look of outright frustration on her face. Clearly, she had already been told about the proclamation as well and was less than pleased with it. Jay came in next; staying close to Mal. Evie had a hard time remembering who Jay was. She could only remember that he was Jafar's son. The last one to enter was a younger kid with a skittish attitude about him. He was clearly frightened of being here, made all the more obvious when he all but sprinted to his mother. However, this seemed to only increase the boy's nervousness, especially when Cruella began showing him the spot on her sleeve that she had been examining earlier.

Maleficent began doing her nails and chatting away.

"You will go. You will find the Fairy Godmother. You will bring me back her Magic Wand. Easy Peasy."

Carlos stared in utter confusion. How were they going to find a wand of any kind when they couldn't get off the island?

"What's in it for me?" Mal asked.

"Matching thrones, her's and her's crowns. It's all about you and me baby. Do you enjoy watching innocent people suffer?"

"Well, yeah, I mean who doesn't..."

"Well then get me the wand" Maleficent interrupted, bounding up from her chair. "And you and I can see all that and so much more. And with that wand and my scepter, when I find it for you, I will be able to bend both good and evil to my will!" She finished with a shout.

"Our will?" Evie cringed at the brazenness of her mother. Their only saving grace was that there was no magic under the barrier. She relaxed a little when Cruella and Jafar seemed to shoot daggers in Maleficent's direction, both clearly annoyed by Maleficent's choice of words.

"Our will, our will." Maleficent quickly corrected herself, something the occupants of the room had never seen her do before. She snapped at Mal to regain her attention.

"And if you fail, then you're grounded for the rest of your life, Missy."

"But, Mom…" Mal started to complain.

Maleficent motioned her to silence and began to stare at Mal. While Evie couldn't see Mal's eyes, she could see Maleficent's starting to glow. After several seconds of tension that she could cut with a knife, Mal finally conceded.

"Uhh, fine, whatever."

"I win." Maleficent declared like small child.

"Evie," The Evil Queen said turning to her, "my little evilette in training. You just find yourself a prince with a big castle with a mother-in-law wing and lots and lots of mirrors." Evie recited the last part with her mother, disappearing momentarily into the fantasy that her mother had always given her. She even laughed a little.

"No laughing. Wrinkles." The Evil Queen chastised.

"Well their not taking my Carlos because I'd miss him too much." Cruella spoke up. Evie made a note to herself that she needed to remember that the youngest boy was named Carlos. Carlos seemed to be shocked and touched by the sentiment.

"Really, Mom?" He asked cautiously.

"Yes. Who would touch up my roots, fluff up my furs, and scrape the bunions off my feet?"

"Well, maybe a new school would be the worst thing." Carlos mumbled, clearly deflated by his mother's response.

"Carlos, they have dogs in Aurodon." Cruella sneakily told.

"Oh, no. I'm not going!" Carlos stated, failing to keep the fear out of his voice. Evie was forced to wonder why the dogs were the thing that seemed to scare him.

"Well, my Jay isn't going either. I need him to stock the shelves in my store." Jafar pronounced before turning to his son expectantly. "What did you score?"

With his signature chuckle, Jay began producing various objects from hiding places all over his clothes. When the boy produced a lamp, Jafar's face lit up. He instantly began trying to rub it and retrieve a genie.

"Dad…I already tried." Jay stated with a face full of defeat. Jafar's face was mangled by rage as he tossed the lamp back to Jay.

"Evie's not going anywhere till we get rid of this uni-brow, hmm." Evie's hand flew to her eyebrows, trying desperately to find out what it was that her mother was talking.

"What is wrong with you all?" Maleficent snapped from the front of her room. She made her way down from the raised platform. She grabbed Mal's wrist and moved her to a chair near one of tables in the room. "People used to cower at the mention of our names. For twenty years, I have searched for a way off this island. For twenty years, they have robbed us of our revenge. Revenge on Snow White and her horrible little men."

The Evil Queen moaned at the mention of the dwarfs.

"Revenge on Aladdin and his bloated genie."

"I will…" Jafar roared as Jay tried to calm him down.

"Revenge on every sneaky Dalmatian that escaped your clutches."

"Oh, but they didn't get baby. They didn't get the…Haha." Cruella stated as Carlos looked at his mother with a face of confusion and concern.

"And I, Maleficent, the evilest of them all, will finally have my revenge on Sleeping Beauty and her relentless little prince." Maleficent continued, grabbing the mirror that The Evil Queen had produced to help Evie deal with her uni-brow and adoring herself in it.

"Villians." She continued, receiving acknowledgement from the others. "Our day has come. EQ, give her the magic mirror."

"This is your magic mirror." Evie stated after the Evil Queen handed it to her.

"It aint what it used to be, but then again, neither are we." She replied with a chuckle between her and Maleficent. Evie couldn't describe the feeling of her mother actually trusting her with something. She almost forgot that this was only happening because of Maleficent, who had banished them from the public eye over a birthday party.

"It will help you find things." The Evil Queen went on.

"Like a prince?" Evie asked hopefully.

"Like my waistline."

"Like the magic wand, hello!" Maleficent interrupted. "Spellbook, my book. I need my magic spell book. Where is it?"

The Evil Queen pointed to an old fridge.

"Ah, yes, the safe. Queen help me. I never can figure this thing out."

"Wallah!" The Evil Queen stated as she pulled open the door.

"Yes, come darling, come." Maleficent called to Mal. After bouncing it a couple of time because of the cold, Maleficent began to smile. "Yes, it doesn't work here, but it will in Aurodon. Remember, when we were spreading evil and ruining lives." Maleficent reminisced.

"Like it was yesterday." The Evil Queen agreed.

"Now, you will be making your own memories…by doing exactly as I tell you." Maleficent told Mal, breaking the spell she seemed to have cast on herself. She shoved the book into Mal's arms and began to walk away again. "Door." Maleficent said to the Evil Queen. The air filled with the sound of a car horn.

"Woow, lets get this party started." Jay said.

Everyone began to gather bags and exit the room. The Evil Queen looked at her daughter, who was lost in the magic mirror.

"Whose the fairest of them all?" She asked

"Me." Evie replied without thinking.

"Ahh!"

"You." Evie corrected herself before heading to the car below. The car was actually a limo, being driven by a man in an expensive suit. As Evie opened the door to climb in, she was a little surprised by a ruckus from behind her.

"Carlos! Get back here now!" Cruella called as the boy threw a black plastic bag in the trunk and jumped in ahead of Evie with a laugh.

"Uhh, Ingrate." Cruella said as she gave up.

Evie climbed in and watched as Mal got ready to get in as well. Mal seemed to hesitate for a moment before she got in, glancing up at the castle they were about to leave. Evie listened as the limo started up and began to drive away, leaving their parents telling them to bring home various items.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, everyone. I just wanted to thank everyone who reviewed and followed my story after I posted chapter one. If You post a review, I do try my hardest to respond. I also enjoyed the feedback I got from those I private messaged. I would like to give a shout out to Soccerkiddog for all his help so far and for his fresh ideas to my story. I look forward to continuing this story for everyone. Feel free to ask my any questions as you read my story, and I will try my hardest to respond to them in a timely manner.**

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As the limousine pulled away from Maleficent's tower, Jay couldn't help but be on edge. He was leaving the Isle of the Lost for the first time ever. All that he could think of is all the trouble he was about to have. On the Isle of the Lost, there was a system in place. Most outsiders just thought that Maleficent ruled over everything. While she did, there were certain rules on the street level that everyone knew. There were areas that Jay knew were good for an easy steal and area that he knew were off limits, even to Jafar's son. Obviously, these weren't rules written in stone, but rather a knowledge that one gained through trial and error. After Mal and he had made an arrangement to always stand by each others side, Jay had gained almost free reign over the streets.

But Auradon was new. Jay would have to learn the new rules of the trade. He was pretty certain he could just steal whatever he wanted, seeing as how the AK's were all goody two shoes, but he had to play his cards right. Getting caught probably meant that he would be sent back to the Isle, and if he returned without the wand that Maleficent wanted, he wouldn't survive the night.

But of course, there were some guarantees. Mal was coming with him and if she was anything, she was true to her arrangements. He and she may not be able to dominate the Auradon yet, but together, they were sure to get there in no time. That was if these other two could be trusted. Jay knew Carlos de Vil well enough to know that the kid was a coward. As long as there was a chance of retribution from someone stronger, Carlos would stay in line. It was the new girl, Jay was sure her mother had called her Evie back at the tower; that caused him the most unease. He knew nothing about her. If she turned traitor at Auradon, there would be nothing that the VK's could really do to stop her. Sure, Mal had her mother's spell book, but there was no guaranty that even she could keep Evie in line if she went rogue.

Jay was pulled from his thoughts when he saw Carlos reaching for something in front him. It was then that Jay noticed the grand assortment of candies in front him. Just when Carlos had grabbed a piece, Jay snatched it from him and popped the candy into his mouth.

"Hey…" Carlos whined, a look of indignation on his face.

"What? I'm a thief." Jay said nonchalantly.

"There's a whole shelf full of candy there."

"Pfft, So. Everything's better when it's stolen from someone."

Carlos reached for another piece and again Jay stole it before he could eat it. Carlos, trying not to show how flustered he truly was at the whole thing, sat back and looked out the window.

"You're no fun." Jay reached across and grabbed a handful of candy from the shelf and began to help himself. He looked at the girls. Evie had begun partaking of some candy that was between her and Jay while Mal fiddled with a remote, trying to figure out what it did. After a couple of minutes, Jay noticed Carlos trying to reach across again. Jay already had a handful, and a mouthful, of candy. He decided it would be too difficult to deal with Carlos again and let Carlos get a couple pieces of candy to munch on. He looked back at the girls. Mal had given up on the remote and was now just staring off into space. Evie was trying to bite into a hard blue candy that she had found while avoiding glancing in Mal's direction.

Mal absentmindedly pushed a button the remote that made the window behind her roll down. Evie turned at the sound and looked through.

"Look!" She yelled, her voice increasing an octave.

Jay leaned forward so he could look out the window past her and saw that the limo was approaching the ruins of a bridge. The limo wasn't slowing down either.

"It's a trap," Carlos yelled before crouching down. Even Jay let screams out as the car raced for the drop-off. All four of the VK's screamed and huddled for a moment before they realized a distinct lack of plummeting to their deaths. What did happen was that the limo's interior got super bright for a moment and then the light faded. Jay opened his eyes and looked out the window. The limo was not falling into the sea but was rather driving over the water as if the bridge was still there. Jay saw that a bridge of light had formed beneath them and they were driving smoothly across it.

"Hey," Mal called, drawing Jay's attention. She was looking at the driver through the window. "Did this little button just open up the magic barrier?"

"Nope, this one opens the magic barrier." the driver replied, holding up a gold button that he had in the front seat with him. "That one opens my garage. And this button…" The driver pushed a button above him and the window closed again, making it obvious he was not interested in further conversation. Mal turned to Jay and gave him a small smile.

"Okay, nasty. I like that guy."

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. With the terror and curiosity gone, everyone returned to the status quo, which was apparently total silence. Jay decided it was time to do what he did best. Carlos continued to eat candy, guessing that Jay wouldn't mess with him while stealing. Evie began doing makeup and her hair to make herself even more presentable than she already was. Mal continued to plot.

As the limo approached the school entrance, Jay could hear the sounds of music. The Auradon kids were apparently really glad to be having the villain kids attend school with them. Jay found the whole thing a little off-putting. People on the Isle didn't celebrate a lot. Mal's birthday parties were usually the biggest parties of the year. Jay gathered his loot as the limo slowed to a stop. Carlos, whose face was covered in chocolate by now, was the first to step out when the limo door opened. Jay was second, his haul, which included the limo's TV and speakers, making it difficult to maneuver through the door. Evie was third, clearly trying to put as much distance between her and the others as she could. Finally, in as calm a fashion as she could manage, came Mal. Jay could tell that she was holding herself differently with this crowd. She was behaving like she was one of the students already and she was just in the limo to escort the three actual VK's.

The band finished their song, and the crowd in front of the limo parted as a plump lady approached them, two students walking on either side of her. The woman looked directly at the haul Jay had under his arm.

"Oh, just cleaning up," Jay said with a grin.

"Just leave it like you found it." The lady said in a singing voice. When Jay didn't make any movements at all, her face dropped and her voice took a slightly more serious tone. "And by that, I mean just leave it."

Jay caught the hint that time and quickly tossed all the items back into the car. He ignored the driver's glare as he looked back toward the lady in front of him. He then noticed that one of the students who had trailed the lady was a very pretty girl, with brown skin and hair. She was wearing a blue jacket over a pink dress.

"Hello, foxy." Jay said, using his most enticing voice, "The names…Jay." He replied, looking her up and down and crossing his arms in dramatic fashion. While the girl managed to keep a straight face, her laugh showed that was unimpressed. Jay was actually a little surprised that she wasn't in the least bit wooed by him. Suddenly, the lady leaned over between the two, clearly trying to steer the conversation back on track.

"Hello, Welcome to Auradon Prep." She straightened up and looked at the rest of the group. "I'm Fairy Godmother, Headmistress."

"The Fairy Godmother, as in bippety, boppety, boo," Mal asked, intrigued. Jay took a step back behind the rest of the group, flustered by the Fairy Godmother's interruption and the girl shutting him down.

"Bippety, Boppety, You know it." Fairy Godmother replied, unable to hide the joy at knowing that the kids in front of her knew her.

"Yeah. I always wondered what it was like for Cinderella when you just appeared out of nowhere with that sparkly wand and warm smile and that sparkling wand." Jay didn't have to know Mal well in order to see that she was really laying on the charm. He could also tell that it was working like a charm.

"That was a long time ago and as I always say 'Don't focus on the past or you will miss the future.'" Fairy Godmother may have been charmed by Mal's words, but she wasn't very forthcoming with her previous exploits. Jay saw the ways Mal's brows furrowed briefly at Fairy Godmother's dismissal of the question. He glanced around at the others. Evie seemed to be entranced by the boy that was standing on the other side of Fairy Godmother. Meanwhile, Carlos had taken to licking off his fingers, which were covered in the weird brown candy that Carlos had taken to liking.

The two students who had been standing behind Fairy Godmother stepped forward. Jay took a look at the boy for the first time since the conversation had begun. He had white skin, brown hair, and seemed to be wearing his best suit for the occasion. He seemed to be the most formally dressed person in the crowd.

"Hello, it's so nice to finally meet you all. I'm Ben."

"Prince Benjamin, soon to be King." The girl inserted quickly, clearly trying to get across the fact that this kid was important.

"You had me at Prince." Evie sighed as she stepped forward, giving a curtsy to the boy. "My mom's a queen, which makes me a princess."

"The Evil Queen has no status here," the girl replied, venom thinly veiled in her words, "and neither do you." Jay watched as Evie's face dropped at the insult.

Ben chuckled, attempting to lighten the mood.

"This is Audrey." He continued, clearly embarrassed at how things were going.

"Princess Audrey, his girlfriend, right Benny-boo?" She grabbed Ben's hand, trying to emphasize the point. Jay now understood why the conversation had been going south. He had hit on another guy's girlfriend and Evie had hit on another girl's boyfriend. Apparently, love turned people into animals, even in Auradon.

"Ben and Audrey are going to show you all around and I will see you all tomorrow." Fairy Godmother inserted, clearly trying to get the conversation back under control again. "The doors of wisdom are never shut, but the Library hours are from eight to eleven and as you may have heard, I have this little thing about curfews." With that, Fairy Godmother briskly walked away, letting the procession behind her handle the rest. As she left, so to did the band and most of the students who had arrived for the event. This left the four VK's with Ben and Audrey. Ben clapped his hands together and smiled.

"It is so, so good to finally meet you all." Ben's breath hitched as Jay gave him the customary arm punch that was a normal greeting back on the Isle. Jay noticed how everyone seemed a little tense about the punch. Now that he thought about it, he had no idea if that was an acceptable greeting here in Auradon. But Ben didn't seem to mind as he moved on to Mal. Ben seemed to get lost in Mal's eyes for a moment, before regaining his composure and continuing.

"This is a momentous occasion and one that I hope will go down in history," After shaking hands with Carlos, Ben lifted his hand to his lips, licking off the melted candy that had gotten on his hands. "Chocolate?" He asked Carlos, who was sucking the stuff off his thumb. At least now Jay knew the name of the candy. Ben walked up to Evie and shook her hand. "as the day our two people began to heal." He ended cheerfully.

"Or the day you told four peoples where the bathrooms are." Jay noticed how Audrey seemed to want to pull Ben away from Evie, who was still holding Ben's hand. Ben didn't seem to notice either of them, however, as he stared at Mal.

"A little bit over the top?" Ben asked.

"A little more than a little bit," Mal replied.

"Well, so much for my first impression," Ben commented, slightly downtrodden at the reception of his efforts. Ben was spending a lot of time looking at Mal and vice versa. Jay was hoping that this conversation would be over soon so he could remind Mal the reason they were at Auradon. He was almost thankful when Audrey pipped up.

"Hey, you're Maleficent's daughter, aren't you? Yeah, you know what; I totally do not blame you for your mother trying to kill my parents and stuff. Oh, my mom's Aurora, Sleeping…"

"Beauty." Mal finished for her, obviously quite finished with this line of dialogue. "Yeah, I've heard the name. Yeah, and I totally do not blame your grandparents for inviting everyone, in the whole world, but my mother, to their stupid christening." Jay had to keep his anger in check. These AK's seemed to have forgotten that some of their parent's had caused their own tragedies.

"Water under the bridge."

"Totes" The two girls laughed the fakest laughs ever heard by the human race.

"Okay, so how about a tour?" Ben asked the whole group, trying to redirect the conversation. Jay wondered if redirecting conversations was a common thing in Auradon, or if they had taken classes on it in preparation for the VK's.

"Yeah? Auradon Prep. Originally built over three hundred years ago and converted into a high school by my father when he became King."

Ben led the party toward the front doors of the school. The group paused for a moment in front of a statue of what Jay assumed to be Ben's father. Ben clapped his hands and the statue turned from a man into a beast, much to the terror of the youngest in the group. A scream filled Jay's ears, causing to turn toward the source of the sound. Carlos had jumped backward and was holding his hands out toward the statue. Jay and Mal laughed openly at Carlos as if he was putting on a show that they found amusing. Ben turned to Carlos with a frown, before putting on a calming smile.

"Carlos, it's okay. My father wanted the statue to morph from beast to man to remind us that anything is possible."

"Does he shed much?" Mal asked as her laughs subsided, the joke not lost on anyone, except Ben.

"Yeah, my mom won't let him on the couch." He answered with a straight face as if the question were normal. After receiving a strange look from Mal, Ben smiled and resumed walking. The others followed though Jay could hear the boy behind him whimpering at the statue. Jay knew that Carlos was easy to scare into submission, but the kid seemed to be scared at the drop of a hat. Jay decided that the kid could definitely use some toughening up.

As the group entered the building, Ben stopped in the lobby. Jay took a moment to check out a really expensive vase sitting on a table in the middle of the room. He might have stolen it then and there if it hadn't been for a none-too-subtle glare from Mal.

"Soo… You guys have a lot of magic here at Auradon, like wands and things like that?" Mal inquired while Jay backed away from the vase.

"Yeah, it exists, of course, but it's pretty much retired. Most of us here are just ordinary mortals." Ben answered.

"Who happens to be Kings and Queens."

"That's true," This time it was Audrey who spoke up, her voice pitched with excitement. "Our royal blood goes back hundreds of years." She finished with a shared laugh with Ben as she maneuvered his arm around her shoulders. While she wore a smile, Jay could tell that both of the Royals had problems with their current relationship. Ben was looking for a way out of the awkwardness of the situation that Audrey insisted upon dragging him into. He seemed to find saving in a person nearby.

"Doug! Doug, come down." Jay turned to see that Ben was addressing a kid with glasses descending one of the two stairwells that hugged the sides of the room. The kid was dressed in a band uniform, meaning he was outside just moments ago when the VK's had arrived.

"This is Doug." Ben addressed the group as wrapped an arm around Doug's shoulders. "He is going to help you with your class schedules and show you around the rest of the dorms. I will see you later, okay? And if there is anything you need, feel free to…"

"Ask Doug." Audrey finished, clearly not liking the idea of the VK's being near Ben for any reason. Jay had found this girl hot, but her attitude since had made him glad that he had failed in hitting on her earlier. He was not ready for a relationship that was that troublesome. He watched as Audrey dragged away the soon to be King, leaving Doug alone with them. Doug, to his credit, was quick to take on a professional and friendly attitude toward the four kids in front of him.

"Hi, guys. I'm Dopey's son, as in Dopey, Doc, Bashful, Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, and…Hei ho." Doug's eyes had fallen on Evie, and his train of thought derailed so hard, Jay thought the guy was broken. Evie, knowing the look to well, walked straight up to him.

"Evie, Evil Queen's daughter." She stated seductively. Doug shook himself off before continuing, failing to fully un-fluster himself.

"Okay, so about your classes, I, um, put in the requirements already, History of Woodsmen and Pirates, Safety Rules for the Internet, and Remedial Goodness 101."

"Let me guess, new class," Mal stated as she walked up and looked over his shoulder at the papers he was carrying. Doug gave her a quick nod. She turned to the rest of the group. "Come on guys, let's go find our dorms," Mal ordered before turning and heading up the stairs that Doug had just descended from. Doug seemed to be confused for a moment before realizing that he hadn't told the four where their dorm was.

"Oh, yeah. Your dorms are that way guys." He said to them, pointing down a hall that was behind the stairwell on the opposite side of the room from the one they were on. The VK's instantly turned around and took off. Meanwhile, Doug began rattling off the names of the seven dwarfs again, trying to remember the one he had forgotten. When he got to the last one, Carlos came up beside him.

"Sneezy," Carlos said proudly before following the others. Doug rolled his eyes as he finally remembered the name of the last dwarf. He then followed the others to make sure that they found their rooms okay. Unlike most of the Auradon kids, Doug actually looked forward to working with the VK's. He knew it was going to be an interesting experience, especially Evie.


	3. Chapter 3

**In response to a guests review on Chapter Two, I was not entirely certain whether or not Ben played along with the joke or if the joke was lost on him so I just went with my interpretation of events. Thank you for the review and I look forward to more as I go on.**

 **I also want to give a shout out to starflight34 for your positive feedback on the review board and for the ideas that you have offered.**

* * *

As Evie and Mal entered their room, Evie was instantly struck with how lovely and cute her room was. While her life on the Isle had been pampered by comparison to everyone else, even her room was not as pretty as the one she was standing in. The room had two beds, each covered in pink sheets and pillow cases. Small piles of toiletries had been placed on the ends of the beds. Two windows both let in an abundance of sunlight, giving the room a comforting atmosphere. For a moment, Evie was in heaven.

"This room is so amazing." She proclaimed in awe.

"Of course you like it, Princess." Evie was reminded that her heaven had come with an unwanted guest. "As for me, I am going to need some sunscreen."

Mal walked up to the windows and began closing the curtains, much to Evie's disappointment. But Evie kept quiet, realizing that now might be the best time to try and be friends with the girl she hadn't seen in years.

"That's better." Mal smiled at the darkness of the room. Evie couldn't tell if Mal actually had a problem with the light, or if she was just trying to keep up some kind of VK image. She decided it would be better if she didn't voice that particular thought. She set her bag down on the bed closest to the door and laid down flat, basking in how the cushioned seemed to slowly swallow her.

"What are you doing?" Evie was again reminded that there was an unwanted guest in her heaven. She opened her eyes and turned to see Mal giving her a strange look.

"I am enjoying the feeling of a real bed. It's so soft and comfy. You should really give it a try."

"That's cute, but we shouldn't get too carried away." Mal sat on her own bed, briefly surprised when she realized that Evie was actually right about the bed's comfort. If she hadn't been plotting, she might've taken the time to enjoy it too. But as it stood, she couldn't risk buying into the luxury of the room around her. She and the other VK's had a specific job, and they couldn't afford to be distracted.

"Why not?" Evie asked, returning to lying on the bed.

"Because we have to get Fairy Godmother's Wand," Mal replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"No, you have to get the wand. My mother wants me to get in good with one of the princes and become a Royal."

"My mom, Maleficent, the Ruler of all evil, has ordered all four of us to get Fairy Godmother's Wand." Mal's tone was becoming threatening, but Evie refused to back down on the matter.

"That's all fine and dandy, but last I checked, your mom also banished my mother and me from the rest of the Isle. She never allowed us to come back until this whole decree thing happened and even then, it was only because she wanted something from us. So forgive me if I'm not in the mood to follow the orders of a woman who can't even leave the Isle or the orders of her spoiled offspring who couldn't even handle missing a birthday party." With those final words, Evie stormed from the room, not even bothering to close the door behind her.

Mal was in shock. No one on the Isle had ever dared stand up to her before. Now, this banished princess had the audacity to not only defy her but insult her as well. She swore she would get even. It was at this time that Mal realized that Evie had left her bag on the bed that she had thrown it on. Mal remembered the mirror that Evie had been given and, after a brief rummaging, pulled the mirror from the bag. She didn't need the spoiled princess, only her mirror. Mal tucked the mirror into her jacket and left the room.

* * *

As night descended on the school, Carlos had lost himself in a video game. While Jay had opted to run around the school after the tour, Carlos had returned to their dorm room to see what all was inside. Upon finding the video games, Carlos had quickly been drawn in. He didn't even hear Jay come back into the room until Jay began to dump his haul onto one of the beds. After figuring out the source of the noise, Carlos returned to the game. A couple of minutes later, the door to their dorm room opened again. Carlos turned to see Mal enter the room. While Carlos didn't know Mal very well, even he could tell that she seemed upset about something. He decided it was better not to ask, praying it wasn't going to come back to bite him later as he returned to the video game.

Mal walked across the room to where Jay was standing over the bed.

"Jay. What are you doing?"

"It's called stealing," Jay replied with a victorious smile while he continued to pull items from various areas of his clothes.

"Okay. What's the point?"

"Well, Mal, it's like buying whatever I want, except it's free." Jay pulled out a laptop, which left Mal both impressed and utterly confused at the same time. On the island, she had seen Jay steal lots of things, but never seen him steal anything bigger than a lamp. She needed to remember to ask him how he got his hands on the thing and how he managed to hide it.

"Uhh, okay, you could do that or you could leave all of this here and pick it up when we take over the world." To Mal, this seemed to be the most obvious thing in the world. But Jay didn't share this view.

"You do it your way, and I'll do it mine," Jay replied as he stepped around Mal.

"Die Suckers!" Carlos' shout filled the room as he killed an enemy on the screen. "Jay, come check this thing out man. It's awesome." Carlos was so excited over the game, that he even forgot that he was supposed to be scared of his current company. Jay gave him a funny look as he took the controllers from Carlos and stepped in front of the screen. He could care less about how excited Carlos was, but was very interested in the game that had the kid hyped up.

"Jay, do I have to remind you what we are here for?" Mal reprimanded.

"Fairy Godmother, blah blah blah, magic wand, blah blah blah"

"This is our one chance to prove ourselves to our parents. To prove that we are vicious and evil and cruel. Yeah?" As Mal finished up, Jay took on a sober mood, setting the controllers down.

"Yeah."

"Good, now get lost twerp." This time, Mal was addressing Carlos.

"What? Why?"

"Because we don't need a useless coward getting in the way." Mal didn't even bother looking at him as she pulled Evie's mirror from her jacket. Carlos was about to say something else when Jay put a firm grip on his shoulder.

"She said get lost, small fry." Jay gave Carlos a good shove towards the door, and Carlos remembered his place in the food chain. He grabbed his jacket from his bed and headed out the door.

"Jeez, did everyone forget how to listen after we went through the barrier?" Mal complained, setting the mirror on the table.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, first that spoiled brat, Evie, tells me that she isn't going to help us find the wand and now Carlos thinks he can run with us just because he was sent to Auradon with us. It's like being off the Isle has driven everyone nuts.'

"Don't worry; I'm still here for you," Jay replied with his trademark grin. "Besides, we still got the mirror."

"Your right." Mal picked the mirror back up and held it at face level. "Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, where is Fairy Godmother's Wand?" The mirror just continued to show Mal her reflection.

"Are you seeing something that I'm not?" Jay asked.

"No, it's not showing me anything."

"Try again."

"Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, where is Fairy Godmother's Wand?" Still, the mirror did nothing.

"Maybe it's broken?" Jay asked in confusion.

"Or maybe only the spoiled princess can use it. Guhh, great, the only thing in our arsenal that can find the Magic Wand and it's useless." Mal threw the mirror onto the bed next to Jay's haul, growling in frustration.

"Maybe there is something in the library?"

"Oh, you mean like how the location of my mom's staff was in the library?" Mal yelled. "Yeah, I'm sure they have a book titled where to find Fairy Godmother's Wand and how to steal it. Of course, this wasn't going to be easy."

"Do you have a better idea on how to find the wand? Because I am all ears. It's not like we can go asking around the school."

Mal plopped down on the bed and rubbed her eyes. "Fine, we will look in the library." She got up and crossed the room, Jay close behind.

* * *

Meanwhile, Carlos had managed to stumble upon the perfect hiding place. He couldn't believe that the school had people who roamed the halls to make sure that people went to bed on time. The Isle of the Lost only had henchmen who might guard the homes of some of the more dangerous or rich villains. Even they were only meant to keep people from getting funny ideas about breaking in. Thankfully, Carlos had had plenty of practice evading people who were hunting for him. This had led Carlos to the roof of the school. While the night sky had a slight chill to it, Carlos was amazed by all the sights. Depending on where on the roof top he went, He could see the entire grounds. Most of the school rooftop was triangle shaped, with steep shingled sides. But the area on top of the tower was flat. This was the area where Carlos resided. He stayed crouched behind a wall so no one below would see him. The grounds at night were a peaceful sight. Even the forests in Auradon seemed pleasant and inviting. But what really got Carlos' attention were the stars above. The Isle of the Lost had a layer of cloud cover all year round, so seeing the stars was impossible. But here, the night sky was full of them. Carlos felt like he could spend the whole night up here. If it weren't for the fact that tonight would be the first night he ever got to sleep in a bed, he might have stayed. But Carlos waited for what he believed was a long enough time for the other two to finish their conversation and then headed back down the trap door that led to the tower rooftop and stealthily made his way back to his room.

* * *

Mal and Jay had just arrived at the library. Mal tried the handle, only to find that the doors were locked.

"Wow, I am surprised that these people even know how to lock doors. You'd think with how easy it was to steal from them all day that they would know how to lock doors." Mal couldn't tell if Jay was genuinely impressed, or if he was just mocking them.

"Can you open it?"

"No. I might be a thief, but I am only a pickpocket. I'm not very good at breaking into places."

"Great. That means we'll actually have to come here when it's open. Looks like we are doing school tomorrow."

"Great, just what I always wanted. I am so looking forward to learning how to be a good little boy." This time Mal was positive that he was mocking the Auradon Kids.

"See you tomorrow Jay," Mal said as she turned in the direction of her dorm.

"Yep," Jay replied as he headed back to his.

As Mal walked back to her room, a single thought crossed her mind.

"Well, this was officially the worst day ever." She said to herself.

* * *

 **Thanks to everyone for reading, please leave feedback and reviews and I will do my best to respond to you. I will try to upload one chapter a week, usually either Thursday or Friday.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, Everyone. Figures the week after I say I am going to post weekly is the week when everything happens and I can't post a chapter. Sorry to everyone for the delay in Chapter 4.**

 **Also want to give a shout out to Malice-Mal-Ben-Bree-1998, Carmine De Vil, and the Guest for reviewing chapter three and giving me feedback. I always look forward to reviews. I am also proud to say that this story now has 17 followers, 9 of which have favorited it as well. Thanks again for all the support guys and here is the next chapter.**

* * *

Carlos awoke pretty early the next morning. On the Isle of the Lost, he had grown accustomed to waking early so he could get some his chores done before rushing out with his henchmen to get his hands on food. This served him well now because apparently the school only served breakfast for a certain amount of time before shutting down for classes. Carlos was quick to dress and then realized that he needn't have bothered. He still had half an hour before the cafeteria opened. Since he didn't have any chores to do, he actually found himself with nothing to do. It was kind of a rare feeling for him.

Carlos took a seat at the table in the room and saw the laptop that Jay had stolen last night. Carlos decided that it might be fun to look on the internet and find out what he could about the school.

He opened the laptop and the password prompt appeared. Now he understood why Jay had gotten frustrated at the thing. After a few minutes of random tinkering, Carlos found a way of bypassing the password altogether, which involved wiping all laptop's memory, and finally got access to the school's internet. Carlos began to look around at all the laptop's programs and applications to figure out what all it was capable of. Carlos discovered the internet window and came to the Auradon Prep Homepage. The page highlighted school events and classes, as well as local attractions. Just as Carlos discovered a link to the Museum of Cultural History's website, he was caught off guard by knocking at the door.

He rose from the table and crossed the room quickly, trying to avoid waking up Jay. Carlos didn't want to put up with Jay shenanigans any longer than he had too. So Carlos was extremely disheartened when he opened the door to their dorm room to find Mal standing in the doorway.

"Took you long enough. Where's Jay?" Mal didn't even wait for a response from Carlos before she shoved him to the side and walked into the room. Carlos noticed that she was carrying a brown leather book with her. If he remembered correctly, the book was the spell book that Maleficent had given her. Carlos closed the door and watched as Mal went straight up to Jay and tried to shake him awake. Jay's only response was to roll over. Mal, not one to be ignored, even by a sleeping person, lifted her foot and unceremoniously kicked Jay off the bed. Jay jumped up, glaring and looking around for the culprit. His glare dropped slightly upon realizing that it was Mal who had woken him up.

"Come on, Sleeping Beauty. I don't want to be late to breakfast and I still want to hit the library before our classes get started." As Mal spoke, Jay was working on getting dressed. Then, Jay noticed that the screen was lit up on the laptop. Frustrated by the rude awakening, coupled with the fact that someone had touched his stuff, Jay's whole body tensed up. Carlos saw this and looked to the laptop, realizing what was about to happen.

"Hey, twerp, were you messing with my stuff?" Carlos knew better than to answer that question aloud, but that didn't stop Jay from already knowing the answer. Carlos quickly bolted from the room. Before Jay could follow him, however, a hand shot across his chest.

"Drop it for now. We have more important things to do. You can deal with him tonight if you're still mad about it. For now, let's go."

"If someone hands you a crying baby, do you; A: Curse it, B: Lock it in a tower, C: Give it a bottle, or D: Carve out its heart?" Fairy Godmother stood at the front of the classroom, acting each of the actions she listed off and speaking in a slow monotonous tone. Evie's hand shot into the air.

"Evie,"

"What was the second one?" Mal and Jay didn't try to conceal their snickering as Fairy Godmother's smile dropped a fraction.

"Oh, okay. Anyone else? Mal?"

Mal glanced at the board for a second before answering.

"C: Give it a bottle." She answered with a snobby smile in Evie's direction.

"Correct, again."

"You are on fire girl," Jay said to her.

"Just pick the one that doesn't sound like any fun," Mal replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Ohh,"

A small squeal filled the room as a girl, who looked to be no taller than Carlos, with brown hair and faded blue dress speed walked past the desk where Jay and Mal were sitting.

"Hello, dear one." Fairy Godmother greeted as the girl finished making her way to the front of the class.

"You need to sign off on early dismissal for the coronation." As she handed Fairy Godmother a clipboard, she kept her fear filled eyes on the VK's. Mal nudged Jay's arm, making sure that he noticed the newcomer. The girl bared a remarkable resemblance to Fairy Godmother.

"Everyone here remembers my daughter, Jane." Fairy Godmother introduced.

"Mom. No." Mal guessed that Jane was trying to whisper, but with the classroom mostly empty, she might as well have been yelling.

"It's okay, Jane, this is everyone." Fairy Godmother gently turned her daughter around to face the room. The first thing Jane noticed was how the villain kids had arranged themselves. The girl with purple hair and jacket and the tall boy with black hair and Agrabah looking clothes sat next to each other at a desk near the center of the room. To the left and a couple of rows ahead sat a girl with blue hair and a blue dress, looking in a mirror real quick. Sitting alone in the back right corner of the classroom was a white haired boy with a Dalmatian themed jacket, who appeared to just want to fade into nothing.

"Hi. That's okay, don't mind me. As you were," Jane all but sprinted from the room with a squeal as Fairy Godmother continued her lesson. But Mal had a hard time focusing on the rest of the lesson. Fairy Godmother had given Mal the perfect way to find the wand; Jane.

During the lunch break, Ben entered the cafeteria. When he signed the proclamation for the villain kids to attend Auradon Prep with the rest of the population, he fully intended to ensure that they got a decent transition. What he hadn't counted on was how they were never all going to be in the same place between classes. Evie was easy enough to track down thanks to the fact that Doug had taken a liking to her. For Jay and Mal, it was a fifty-fifty shot as to whether or not they would be in an obvious area during certain times. Carlos was impossible to find outside of class times. The Auradon kids were of no help either as most didn't really think about the villain kids.

As Ben got his food from the lunch line, he looked around the cafeteria to see if he could find any of the VK's. Finally, he noticed an area of the cafeteria that the student's seemed to be avoiding. When he looked closer, he realized why. At the table in the center of the empty area, sitting all by himself, was Jay, eating quickly as if he were running late for something. Ben made his way over to the table and sat down, receiving a very confused look from both Jay and the nearby students.

"Hey, Jay. Just wanted to check up on you, see how things were going."

"Um, no offense, but aren't you a little too good to be sitting at this table?" Jay asked through a mouthful of food.

"I'll leave if you want, but first I wanted to know if you were going to the Tourney Practice this afternoon."

"What's that?"

"It's where the Tourney team gets together and…"

"No, what's Tourney?"

"Well, it's a game that a lot of the athletic guys here at the school play. If you want specifics, come to the practice later and I will arrange with the coach to give you a tryout. I think you'll like it a lot."

"That one of the things you get for becoming a king?" Jay mocked.

"Huh, No," Ben replied with a chuckle. "But it is one of the benefits of being the team captain."

"Of course you're the team captain."

"What does that mean?"

"Oh, nothing. So if I say that I will go, will you let me finish my meal in peace?"

"Sure." In truth, Ben was going to leave the table anyway, but at least this way, he knew Jay would show up later.

"Fine. I will go to the practice."

"Great." Ben exclaimed as he rose from the table with his food, "Oh if you see Carlos, can you let him know about the tryouts as well?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, will do," Jay replied before returning to shoveling food into his mouth. Ben disappeared into the crowd of students, leaving Jay to finish his meal.

Later that afternoon, out on the Tourney Field, Ben was happy to see Jay take him up on his offer, although he was a little surprised to find that Carlos hadn't accompanied him. Ben ran up to Jay, curiosity plain on his face.

"Hey, Jay, glad you could make it."

"Yeah? Well, it was part of our agreement at lunch. You leave me alone and I come to the tryouts."

"Oh… Listen. If the only reason you're here is that of that, then you can leave if you want. I just thought you would be interested in the game. I don't want you to be here if you don't want to be."

"It's fine, I am here now," Jay replied with his signature grin. The coach blew his whistle and the time for Ben to ask questions was over.

"Jay, Ben, Offence. Chad, your defense."

As Ben and Jay headed for their positions, Ben remembered what he had initially gone to ask Jay about.

"Where's Carlos?"

"No idea, I have been looking for him all day." Jay threw on his helmet to hide his glare, but there was no way Ben would have missed the growl in his voice. Ben wasn't sure why Jay was suddenly upset but decided he should ask about it later.

Ben and Jay had finally reached their positions and the whistle was blown. Immediately, Ben hooked the ball with his stick and took off. When he ran into the defense, he shot it between the two players who had blocked him. Even so, one of the other team players managed to intercept it.

After realizing that Ben had charged into the defense, Jay decided to just barrel through them. Finally, his years of fighting for scraps on the Isle were about to pay off. Jay had not always been a good thief or made a clean getaway. As such, he had been forced to teach himself to fight. By the time he became friends with Mal, he was slick enough to get out of most problems but strong enough to deal with the rest. His dad was the only force on the Isle that Jay couldn't handle.

The old memories brought out an untamable beast in Jay. He didn't just charge past the defense like he very easily could have. He hammered straight through them. First, he slammed into Chad, who was able to block him twice. The third time, Chad was not prepared for the level of strength Jay put behind his charge and was knocked flat on his back. Next guy to fall was the one who had intercepted the ball from Ben. Jay blindsided him with the force of a bull and took the ball. As Jay started to charge down the field, a blur of movement shot right past him. Jay looked to his left and saw that one of the players was on a gun that fired discs. Jay swerved, dodged, and flipped as the discs continued to fly. Jay watched as one of the defenders tried to block him from escaping the turret. Jay ducked down and sent the guy flying over his shoulder without a second thought. At this point, the only thing left in Jay's way was the guy defending the goal. Jay had sent the ball ahead of him and Ben was moving in to finish the shot. But even Ben wasn't prepared for what Jay did next. Jay had lost himself to the energy pumping through his veins. He rammed into Ben at full speed, leaving Ben utterly confused. Jay bounced the ball into the air and knocked it past the last defender and into the goal. Jay charged the last defender, who flipped out of the way. When Jay got ready to chase, the guy bolted.

"Oh Yeah!" Jay could only now hear the cheerleaders going wild. He looked around and realized that most of the players were still on the ground. He threw his helmet to the ground and yelled and danced in revelry. He revelry ended, however, when the coach blew his whistle.

"You get over here!" The coach yelled, sounding none too pleased. Jay made his way over to the coach, clearly confused by what was happening.

"What do you call that?" The coach pointed out to the field. Jay was not at all sure what the coach was talking about, looking for a physical object.

"I call that raw talent." The coach and the assistant coach both had wide grins on their faces. Jay couldn't help but smile in relief that he wasn't about to get in trouble.

"Come find me later. I'll show you something you haven't seen before. It's called a rulebook. Welcome to the team son. Let's run that again." As Jay turned to head back out onto the field, he came face to face with Chad, who looked very upset. Jay grinned and shoulder checked the boy before heading back out. He didn't notice how Chad put a hand on his shoulder after the fact, rubbing the spot where he had been checked.

While Jay was at his tryouts, Carlos was up on the tower roof again. He had taken off his jacket and placed it on his backpack. He had books and papers scattered around him and a tablet in his hands. He had seen all manner of interesting technology throughout the school and had gone to the library to grab anything he could on robotics. Information about technology was scarce on the Isle due to the barrier. Consequently, Carlos had been lucky to develop the barrier puncher that he had. Of course, the thing had only worked for a couple of seconds before stopping and beeping annoyingly. Carlos had finally decided to shut it down and start another project when the proclamation had been announced. But now, if Carlos could get his hands on the proper equipment, then the sky was the limit for what he could do. The biggest threat he faced was the thief that he shared a room with. There was no guarantee that Jay and Mal would steal anything he built. So for now, Carlos decided it would be safer to plan then to build.

Mal was at her locker when she saw Audrey, Chad, and Ben come around a corner nearby. When Chad started speaking, she instantly turned toward her locker and pretended not to hear everything they were saying.

"Those kids are trouble."

"Come on Chad, give them a chance."

"Ohh," It was Audrey speaking this time. "No offense, Bennybear, but your just too trusting. Look, I know your mom fell in love with a big, nasty beast who turned out to be a prince, but with my mom, the evil fairy was just the evil fairy, that girl's mother." Audrey ended in a whisper as if Mal didn't already know who she was talking about.

"I think you're wrong about them. See you later." With that, Ben started to make his way over to Mal. Mal closed her locker to find Ben leaning against the lockers next to hers.

"Hey." Ben greeted confidently.

"Hey."

"How was your first day?"

"Super."

"You should really think about taking this talent off your locker and into art class. I could sign you up." Ben offered while looking over the lone live evil logo that Mal had spray painted on her locker. "What do you think?"

Mal watched as Jane walked past, a petite squeal barely escaping her lips. Mal watched head into a nearby hall before turning back to Ben.

"Way to take all the fun out of it." She said with a grin. As she turned to follow Jane, Ben leaned against the lockers, slightly downtrodden at Mal's denial. He also realized that Mal made him feel different than anyone else he met. He wasn't sure what it was, but something about Mal made him want to keep trying to get to know her despite her very obvious resistance to him.

Meanwhile, Mal followed Jane into the girl's bathroom, much to Jane's terror.

"Hi, it's Jane right. Uhh, I always loved that name. Jane."

"It's cool." Jane quickly began to try and pass Mal so she could escape.

"Don't go," Mal yelled, catching Jane completely off guard. Mal realized her mistake and began a new tactic.

"I guess I was just kinda hoping to make a friend. You probably have all the friends you need though, huh?" Mal spoke in a low, calming voice.

"Hardly." Jane sulked as she admitted the truth. Mal had finally found her opening and she was going to hold on to it for dear life.

"Really? I mean with your mom being Fairy Godmother and Headmistress. Not to mention your own, um…, personality. Haha."

"I'd rather be pretty. You've got great hair." Jane admired. Mal got a glint in her eye.

"You know what? I've got just the thing for that." She pulled out her mother's spell book and began to flip through it.

"Right… Ah here. Beware, Forswear, Replace the old with brand new hair." Mal flicked her finger about, watching as Jane's head followed suit. With a final flick upwards, Jane's head rose to reveal brand new, curly, long hair. As Jane admired herself in the mirror, Mal wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Wow. You almost don't notice your…other features anymore."

"Do my nose," Jane begged, turning to face her.

"Ohh, I can't. I've been practicing, but I can't do really big magic yet. Not like your Mom with her wand. I mean one swoosh from that thing and you could probably have whatever features you wanted."

"She doesn't use the wand anymore. She believes that real magic is in the books and not the spell books. Regular books with history and stuff."

"Fsshaa, What a rip."

"Yeah."

"You know, she used magic on Cinderella, who wasn't even her real daughter. Doesn't she love you?" Mal knew that if she could make Jane feel bad enough about her own image, Jane would do all the hard work for her.

"Well, of course, she does. It's just tough love, you know. Work on the inside, not the outside. That sort of thing." Mal could tell Jane didn't believe the words coming out her own mouth.

"That's the face. Yeah. And then just look as if your heart is about to break." Mal took a second to compose herself so she could show Jane. "Oh, Mother. I just don't understand why you can't take a moment to make me look beautiful too." As she finished, she gave Jane a devious smile.

"You think it could work."

"Yeah. Haha. I mean, that's what old Cindy did and your Mom bippepty boppety booed the daylights out of her. And hey, if your mom does decide to, you know, break out the old wand, invite me."

"If I can convince Mom, you're so there," Jane promised

"Yeah." Mal gave a tiny clap.

"Bye." Jane grabbed her bag and left the restroom, leaving Mal smiling smugly and how manipulative she had been. Her mother would have been proud.

"Bye," Mal whispered.


	5. Chapter 5

**Alright, guys. So I know up until now, the chapters seemed like more of a rewrite than an original story, but I promise that from here on out, it's all original story. Thanks for everyone's patience and for all my followers and regular reviewers. Please continue to review and I will continue to reply to any feedback that is submitted. Without further ado, here is the new chapter to We Don't Need Friends.**

* * *

On the Isle, Evie had been discouraged from everything except finding a prince to marry. This included actually learning anything in home school other than beauty. But in Auradon, she realized that she was actually learning things in her classes. But her mother's voice still spoke in the back of her mind, warning her about the dangers of showing princes how smart she could be. She needed to continue to play at being dumb or else her chances at finding love would be shot. She decided that the best way to pull that off was to sit next to Doug on the classes she had with him and let him "tutor" her.

The class for the afternoon was chemistry. But she found that Chad Charming was far more interesting than the teacher and his lesson.

"Any chance he's in line for a throne? Anywhere in line?" Evie asked Doug without taking her eyes off of Chad. Doug looked up from his notes and looked where Evie was staring.

"Chad, Prince Charming Junior, Cinderella's Son? Chad inherited a lot of the charm, but not a lot of their there. Know what I mean?" Doug explained.

"It looks like their there to me," Evie spoke in admiration. But what she failed to notice was the teacher, Mr. Deley, who had, at that exact moment, realized that Evie was not paying attention to the lesson.

"Evie," Mr. Deley called, snapping Evie out of her dreaminess, "Perhaps this is just a review for you. So tell me, what is the average atomic weight of silver?"

Evie was momentarily horrified. Having never been to normal school, it never occurred to her that teachers would call her out. In fact, most of the teachers in Auradon Prep had gone out of their way to ignore her entirely. Except for this guy, who had apparently decided it was important to involve her in the lesson.

"Atomic weight?" She repeated the question with a half smile, trying to buy time to figure out how she was going to get herself out of this jam. Her hand dug through her bag, looking for her mirror, which wasn't there. "Well, not very much, I mean it's an atom, right?"

Her comment pulled chuckles from a couple of the students, but the teacher was quite unamused. He raised a hand and motioned for her to come to the front of the class. Evie's face couldn't drop any lower. The mirror was definitely gone, and she was definitely done for.

She walked to the front of the class and Mr. Deley handed her a piece of chalk. After several second of Evie staring at the chalkboard blankly, he decided that he had had enough.

"Mrs. Evie Queen, as much as I appreciate meaningless banter, I would prefer it you would grace this class with no less than your full attention. So, for your homework tonight, on top of the assignment I am already giving you, I want you to identify all the metals on the periodic table and their average atomic weights. I will expect to see this assignment on my desk in the morning. If that is too difficult for someone with your upbringing, feel free to ask one of your more attentive colleagues for assistance. You may return to your seat now."

Evie returned to her seat, defeated, while Mr. Deley continued with his lesson. But to her surprise, a hand patted her back. When she looked, she saw that Doug was giving her a sheepish smile. She smiled back and pulled out her notebook. She couldn't help but notice how Doug's notebook was sitting between them and not in front of him.

The setting sun found Mal in her dorm, doodling in a notebook as Jane paced around nearby, complaining.

"Mom said that if a boy can't see the beauty within, then he's not worth it. Can you believe it? What world does she live in?"

"Auradon," Mal replied with a grin and chuckle.

"I'll never get a boyfriend."

"Boyfriends are overrated."

Mal was surprised when a brown skinned girl with slightly squinted eyes walked into the room with a quick knock.

"Hey, guys. I'm Lonnie. My mom's Mulan." The girl introduced much to Mal's obvious bewilderment.

"No," Lonnie continued, slightly thrown by the lack of acknowledgment about her parentage, "Anyways, I love what you've done with Jane's hair and I know you hate us and you're evil, but do you think you could do mine?"

"Why would I do that for you?" If Mal was bewildered before, she was full blown lost now.

"I'll pa you fifty dollars." Lonnie offered. Mal was surprised at the sum of money that this girl was willing to give for just getting her hair to look nice. She growled as she rose from her bed and grabbed her spell book from the night stand.

"Okay. Beware, Forswear, replace the old with cool hair." Mal finished the spell with the proper gestures and watched as Lonnie's hair changed to match her own. Lonnie quickly crossed to the mirror and a smile slowly formed on her face.

"I love it, it's just…" Lonnie reached for her squirt and tore it, much to Jane's shock, so that it took on a cooler look. "Now I'm cool."

"Like ice." Mal agreed

Jane crossed the room to the mirror and did the same, before looking at herself in horror.

"What did I just do? Mom's gonna kill me." Jane exclaimed.

Out on the Tourney Field, Jay was meeting up with the coach, whom he had learned was named Coach Jenkins. They sat on the bleachers, looking over an empty Tourney Field.

"I could really use a tough guy like you. The team's a bunch of princes if you know what I mean." Jay smiled at the coach's joke.

"You're telling me. It's all after you old chum, oh pardon me, did I bump into." Jay mocked, throwing in his most princely voice for emphasis. Jay couldn't help but feel a little proud when the coach smiled. "Where I come from, it's prepare to die sucker. As my father says, the only way to win is to make sure that everyone else loses. You rip…"

"Jake, Jake, Jake, let me explain a team," Jenkins piped up, cutting off what looked to be the makings of a violent tirade. "Uh, It's like a family."

"You do not want to be at my house at dinner time." Jake pointed out, confused by the metaphor.

"Okay, um…, you know how a body has a lot of different parts? The legs, elbows, ears. But they all need each other. Well, that's what a team is. Different players who work together to win. Make any sense?"

"Can I be the fist?" Jay asked, understanding now what Coach Jenkins was saying, and holding up a fist for emphasis. He pulled Jay's jersey off his shoulder and showed it to him. Jay's excitement was pretty obvious.

The library was bustling with activity when Evie arrived. After the fiasco in Chemistry, Doug had made it a point to offer Evie help with her homework. They had agreed to meet in the library after classes. As Evie walked in, she saw Doug at a table in the middle of the room, books already sprawled across the table and his head already buried in homework.

"Is this seat taken?" Evie asked jokingly when she reached the table.

"Oh hey," Doug greeted with a slight blush, "No, it's totally available."

"Thanks."

"I'm glad you decided to come."

"Well, since someone stole my magic mirror, I have to actually do things the hard way now." Evie pouted as she sat down and began to pull items from her bag.

"Magic Mirror? Isn't that cheating?" Doug asked.

"Only if you get caught. It's a VK thing." Evie explained.

"Oh, right. I forget that you're actually from the Isle of the Lost."

"How do you forget?"

"Simple, your nice and caring and you act like some of the princesses that attend here." Doug had set down his pencil and given Evie his full attention.

"I hope you don't mean like that Audrey girl." Evie may have been raised on the Isle, but unlike the other VK's, her mother had given her standards to live up to when it came to royal etiquette.

"Audrey is a ...special case. Trust me, not all the Princesses that attend Auradon are like her. Remind me to introduce you to Lonnie or Jane when we get the chance."

"Oh, you planning on spending a lot of time with me?" Evie teased, throwing in a seductive smile for effect. Doug blushed a deep red and began to fidget.

"Well, um, as much time as you're comfortable with. I didn't mean to be presumptuous or anything, I just..." Doug's rambling was cut off when Evie reached across the table and grabbed his hand.

"I would love to spend more time with you. Tell you what, if you promise to hang out with me and help me with homework, I promise not to cheat on tests, even if I find my magic mirror"

"It's a deal," Doug replied confidently. "So I guess we should get started." Doug opened his own Chemistry book and began to talk.

Carlos watched as the sun set through the trees. He had just finished up the last of his homework from the afternoon classes and a rumbling in his stomach told him that it was time to eat. When he reached the cafeteria, he saw Jay and Mal sitting at a table. But instead of sitting alone, he saw that the two had a couple of girls sitting with them. Carlos had always assumed that Mal hated everyone except Jay. Maybe she just liked giving him a hard time. Carlos didn't care which it was. All he needed to know was that while those two were eating, he couldn't go in. After Jay had caught him using his laptop this morning, Carlos wasn't entirely sure that Jay wouldn't kill him in front of the entire school. He decided to leave and come back later.

"Hey, Carlos."

If Carlos could jump out of his skin, he definitely would have done it then. While Carlos had been debating things in his head, he had failed to notice Ben, Audrey, and Chad coming from the hallway behind him.

"Oh, um, hey Ben." Carlos tried his best to hide the fact that he had just been surprised by them.

"Prince Ben, remember?" Audrey quickly piped up.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. What's up, Prince Ben?" Carlos corrected. He couldn't miss the look of discomfort that crossed Ben's face.

"I haven't seen you all day. Just wanted to make sure you were adjusting well." Ben replied, smiling once again.

"Yeah, totally adjusting and stuff. This place is really interesting." Carlos really wanted this conversation to end. For every minute he stayed near the cafeteria, it was another minute that Mal and Jay could find him.

"Alright, good to hear. If you don't mind my asking, why are you out here?"

"Oh, I'm just not sure if I am hungry or not. I think I might come back later." Carlos began to slowly move across the hall in an effort to get literally anywhere else.

"Okay, well you can eat with us if you want." Carlos could tell from Ben's face that the offer was genuine, but he definitely couldn't miss the faces of Ben friends. Audrey had forced an obviously fake smile on for the conversation and had glanced at Ben when he offered. Chad hadn't even bothered that much, choosing instead to glare at Carlos as if he was some kind of bug that had invaded his space.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm good. I'm just going to eat later." Carlos turned and walked away. But he couldn't miss the part of the conversation that happened when the Auradon kids thought he was out of earshot.

"Dude, seriously?" Chad asked in disdain.

"What? We invited them to our school; we should at least get to know them."

"Bennyboo, if you're seen spending too much time with them, people will start to talk." Audrey's voice was sickeningly upbeat.

"I want to know them and help them. Anyway, he didn't accept the offer, so what are you guys worried about? Let's just get some food."

Carlos' face darkened with hurt. He may not be on the Isle of the Lost anymore, but nothing had changed for him. He spent the rest of the time until curfew sitting on the roof, watching darkness descend on Auradon. When curfew rolled around, he headed back to his room. He knew what was going to happen the moment he entered the room. So he was a little caught off guard when he found Jay and Mal pouring over the laptop and several books. Likewise, the two seemed genuinely surprised when Carlos walked in.

"What are you doing here?" Mal asked with a glare.

"I sleep here," Carlos replied as he crossed to his bed.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about you."

"I didn't," Jay said quietly as he crossed the room. He dragged Carlos off his bed and slammed him into the wall. "If you ever mess with my haul again, I will make your life a living hell."

"Fine! Do your worst. It's not like anyone would care." Carlos said in a defeated tone. Jay seemed to hesitate for a second, unprepared for the reply. Even Mal raised an eyebrow at the comment. Jay set Carlos back onto the floor and took a step back.

"Just leave my stuff alone and I'll leave you alone," Jay growled before he turned around and headed back to the table and speaking with Mal. Carlos never bothered to figure out what they were talking about. He lay down on his bed, losing himself to the familiar darkness of hopelessness. He thought about how foolish it was to get his hopes up just because he left the Isle. Of course, nothing was going to change. Carlos embraced the sweet comfort of sleep, his last true escape from the world around him.

As Mal returned to her own room, she was more than a little excited. She and Jay had managed to finally find the location of the wand. It was in some museum that was a couple of miles away. The only reason they didn't go right away was that Jay was tired from Tourney practice. After Jay guaranteed that the team would not be practicing the next day, she finally relented to letting him sleep tonight.

As Mal entered her room, she was more than a little surprised to find Evie standing in the middle of the room, waiting for her.

"You have my mirror, don't you?" Evie asked in a stern tone.

"Yeah. Why? Is the little princess mad that she couldn't check her makeup all day." Mal mocked.

"No," Evie replied in an offended tone, "Well, yeah actually, I am a little upset I couldn't check my makeup, but that's beside the point."

"Then what's the point?" Mal asked, steeling herself for the verbal battle she was sure was coming.

"I just wanted to make sure you had it and that I didn't need to look for it," Evie replied before turning to her bed and laying down.

"Wait, is that it? You're not mad that I stole it?" Mal asked, more than a little confused.

"Oh, no. I was really mad when I found out this morning in Chemistry class. If it hadn't been for Doug, one of my classmates, this conversation would've been really different." Evie replied.

"Then what gives? Aren't you even going to ask for it back?"

"No. It's not like you can use it anyway. I'll just wait till you give it back to me. Besides, I don't need it anymore." Evie explained.

"Why not?" Mal asked as she made her way to sit on her own bed.

"Let's just say that I am glad my mom is on the Isle and not here," Evie replied before rolling over so her back was to Mal. After a moment of confused staring, Mal huffed and turned off the lamp. As Mal drifted off to sleep, she pondered what about this place was making Evie act so weird.


	6. Chapter 6

**Alright everyone, I know I said that I would post weekly, but life has struck yet again. Unfortunately, I spent most of the last two weeks working on my driver's license or volunteering with local agencies to help people. That said, I am going to relook at how and when I write so I can get these chapters out on time. Please bear with me.**

 **Second, I am happy to thank Excellentsunny101 and another guest for their reviews on Chapter 5. I always enjoy the feedback and messages I receive from everyone.**

 **I also feel it is time to thank all of my followers. You guys motivate me to keep writing.**

 **Finally, I owe all of you guys a second apology. I did try to post this chapter last night but was derailed by a Network Error Type 2 that kept appearing every time I tried to upload the document. I emailed tech support, but they never responded. If any of you have any information on this error, please private message me and let me know how to avoid it.**

* * *

Ben was perplexed the next morning when he arrived at breakfast. Despite Audrey's and Chad's predictions to the contrary, most of the villain kids seemed to have made a decent assimilation to the school. Jay was on the Tourney Team and putting his physical prowess to good use, Lonnie and Jane had both said good things about Mal's talents with hair spells, and Doug had told him about how Evie was beginning to buckle down on her homework. The only one Ben couldn't account for was Carlos, son of Cruella De Vil. Ben had only seen Carlos once since orientation, and Carlos had been very clear that he was in a rush to get somewhere.

When Ben had made the proclamation, he had assumed that all four of the kids would hang out with each other at the very least. He saw now that that was probably very presumptuous. After all, even the children of Auradon Prep had created a sort of class system in the school. Royals and sidekicks, for the most part, didn't interact much, preferring to stick with those of like minds. Who knows what kind of class system had been formed on the Isle of the Lost?

No matter what though, Ben needed to find out if Carlos was assimilating well. He didn't want anyone in the school to be suffering from loneliness. In a lot of ways, Carlos reminded Ben of Jane. Up until the VK's arrived, Jane had always kept to herself. Everyone knew that she was the daughter of the Fairy Godmother, which meant that everyone except Ben had given her a wide girth. Their caution of her mother meant that Jane had never had real friends before. There had been a brief time where Chad had "befriended" her, but after everyone learned that Chad was just tricking her into doing his homework, that relationship had quickly ended. Ben tried to be friends with Jane, but she took an extremely professional approach to him as if he was already King of Auradon. Now Carlos looked to be doing the same thing, and Ben was not about to be shut out again, but that meant that he needed to find Carlos first. So when Ben saw Mal, Jane, Lonnie, and Jay all sitting at a table together, he decided to take action.

As Ben approached the table, he couldn't help but overhear a part of their current conversation.

"So you see, a lot of the girls are interested in the new "Villain" look and have asked me to talk to you about setting something up. Oh, and of course they are all willing to pay you for your trouble. So… What do you think?" Ben could tell that Lonnie had just finished what must have been a very long explanation about something.

"Fine, Lonnie, I'll help them with their hair. Just let me know where the want to meet." Mal sounded defeated, and Ben realized that Lonnie's persistence had won again.

"Yay. So, we'll just meet at your room after school. You do the hair and I will make sure you get the money." With that, Lonnie hopped up from the table and instantly headed for a table where a group of girls had already been gathering. He couldn't hear Lonnie speaking, but he definitely heard their excited squeals and chatter break out.

"Hey, Ben the man." Jay greeted with a punch to the arm. Ben was a little more prepared for the punch this time but still found himself rubbing his arm.

"Hey, guys, just wanting to see how you were doing. Is everything going well?" Ben asked

"Great, just another shiny, good filled day here at the land of goodness," Mal replied with a smile. Ben overlooked the obvious mocking in the comment, deciding that that was just the way she was.

"Great. Oh, by the way, have either of you seen Carlos? I was hoping to talk to him, making sure that he was adjusting well.

"Haven't seen him since last night," Jay replied as he sat down and put some toast in his mouth.

"Oh… well is there anything you guys can tell me that might help me find him?" Ben was further disheartened when both of the VK's glanced at each other in confusion.

"All I know is he very easily scared. Actually scared him into letting me throw a party at his house a couple of days before the proclamation was passed." Mal smiled sinisterly as she remembered.

"Oh, yeah, and remember his reaction when he came down from the rooftops right in front of your mom. I'm surprised he didn't pee himself right then and there." Jay reminded her, bringing out a laugh from both of them. Jane and Ben both gave courtesy smiles as the two laughed, neither knowing what they were talking about.

"All right, well thanks for the trying guys." Ben returned to his table to finish breakfast. Ben thought about the information that had he had been given. At least now he knew why Carlos had been so distant from everyone since he arrived. But that didn't help Ben figure out where Carlos could be hiding between classes. But Jay's comment about rooftops might be a good place to start.

* * *

As Ben tried to find Carlos, Carlos was wandering the forest. He had left the school grounds when he awoke that morning in order to clear his head before he had to go to class.

Carlos wanted nothing more than to disappear from the school grounds altogether. He probably would have if he thought that he wouldn't be found. But he remembered the Isle. It never mattered where he went or how long he stayed. Eventually, he would have to return home and deal with his mother. The same was still true out here in Auradon. He may not be on the Isle, but he would never be able to escape from it forever. Even if he finished up all his schooling out here, they would just send him back to the Isle of the Lost, back to his mother.

His only option was to fight. When they sent him back to the Isle, he needed to have the Barrier Breaker ready. Otherwise, he would be as good as dead.

* * *

The bulk of the school day went by quietly for everyone except Mal. Aside from being filled to the brim with anticipation about her and Jay's plan for the night, Mal was also getting quite flustered with the amount of attention she had brought on herself.

When she had agreed to Lonnie's idea, it was only to keep people from being curious about her intentions with Jane. But now she had spent all her afternoon free time casting spells on princesses. Under literally any other circumstance, this would've landed her back on the Isle.

By the time she crashed in Jay's room, she was mentally exhausted. Jay decided to leave her alone while he worked on homework. If he wanted to stay on the Tourney Team, then he needed to keep up with his homework.

"What are we doing?" Mal finally asked aloud.

"You are feeling drained after dealing with Princesses and I am doing homework," Jay replied, his voice lacking his usual confidence.

"Yeah, but why? Our whole goal is to steal the wand and free everyone on the Isle of the Lost. Why am I playing dress up with the enemy?" Mal reminded herself more than Jay.

"So that way our marks don't suspect that we are going to steal from them," Jay replied, setting down his pencil and giving Mal his full attention.

"They invited us here."

"Nooo, one of them invited us here. The rest of them could care less about us and our activities. Although, Chad and that Audrey girl have been keeping an eye on us. You should see the way Chad glares at me. You'd think we'd already overthrown Auradon." Jay was teasing, but Mal could tell that he was getting annoyed by Chad's actions. Mal was feeling the same way. The classes that she shared with Audrey found Audrey constantly giving her smiles of condescension when Audrey even bothered to look at her.

"Yeah, well, after tonight, we won't ever have to worry about them again," Mal said with a grin. "But for now, let's milk one last dinner out these golden geese." Jay gave his trademark grin as the two headed for dinner.

* * *

If there was one thing that Evie had learned over the past two days at Auradon, it was that eating at meal times was less of a rule and more of a suggestion. A fact that Doug had made abundantly clear by bringing her to the library both nights. The first time he had done it, he had convinced her that going to the library during a meal was against the rules, thus appealing to Evie's villain side, but tonight, he had been pretty blunt about the fact that it wasn't. Now, as Doug and Evie sat together in the library, Evie found herself paying less attention to the homework in front of her and more attention to the boy across from her. Doug couldn't miss the looks she gave him either.

"What's up, Evie? You have a question about something?" Doug gave her a smile that Evie was beginning to enjoy seeing.

"Yeah. Why are you being so helpful? I mean, I know this is Auradon and everyone is supposed to be heroic and princely, but are you just helping me because you have to?"

"What? No! I mean yes, helping you is the right thing to do, but that's not the only reason I am helping you." No sooner had the words left his mouth then Doug realized the door he had just left open for Evie.

"Oh, really? Then, what is the other reason you're helping me?" Evie asked in her most appealing voice. Doug blushed a deep red as he realized how cornered he was.

"Oh, well…it's just… that you are very pretty…and I kind of like you, I mean hanging out with you. You know?" Doug replied, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. Doug waited for the merciless teasing or inevitable rejection. He was surprised when he felt a peck on his cheek.

"Thanks for all the help. But you know, I might need your help with homework more often. Let's meet up for lunch tomorrow and work out the details." Evie gave him a genuine smile before looking back to her books. Now it was Doug's turn to stare and smile.

* * *

After checking the cafeteria for Carlos, Ben made his way up to the door that leads to the roof. Officially, it was against the rules to go up to the roof. Aside from the top of the tower, most of the roof was steep and the staff had considered it too dangerous to allow the students access to that area. Realistically though, the door that leads to the roof was in an area that didn't get a lot of foot traffic and the school had never really had an incident with the student's going up there before. So aside from the occasional guard walking by, the area was mostly left alone. Another reason that no one bothered was that the door looked like a closet until you opened the door and saw the spiral staircase.

Ben quickly ascended the spiral staircase and pushed open the door from below. There was a crunch as the trap door hit the ground. Ben popped his head through the opening and found a very surprised and confused Carlos looking back at him.

"What are you doing here?" Carlos asked after gathering his senses.

"Looking for you." Ben climbed the rest of the way out onto the roof and looked around. He himself had never actually been on the tower before. The view of the grounds was pretty impressive. He could also understand why the students could never find Carlos outside of class. No one would ever think to look up at the tower.

"I realize this might not mean much to a villain kid, but you know it's against the rules to be up here, right?" Ben leaned against the wall and looked down on the grounds, watching the students as they went about their business.

"You're right. That doesn't mean much to me." There was a dark tone in Carlos' voice that Ben couldn't miss.

"How come?"

"What are you gonna do? Send me back to the Isle. You people are already going to do that anyway."

"Why would you think that?"

"I heard Audrey and Chad. I know how everyone looks at me. We VK's don't stand a chance when it comes to fitting in out here. The moment we are done with school, someone will find a reason to have us sent back to the Isle of the Lost for good. Our only hope is…" Carlos had forced himself to remember who it was he was speaking to. If he spilled the beans about Mal and Jay before they completed their mission they would make his life a living nightmare.

"Your only hope is what?" Ben prompted. He was starting to get an idea as to why Carlos was being so distant but also knew that Carlos was wrong.

Carlos had had many incidents on the Isle where getting away wasn't an option. He learned quickly that it was better to sacrifice something the other guy knew you had then to risk the other guy getting everything. This time was no exception.

"My only hope is the Barrier Breaker." Carlos surrendered, not entirely lying. If Mal and Jay failed, then his only escape from his mother would be the barrier breaker. Carlos gestured to the scattered papers around him showing Ben exactly what he was referring to. Ben reached down before hesitating a moment.

"Do you mind?" Ben asked politely.

"Oh…" Carlos had been unprepared for Ben to ask permission. "Sure, I mean I figured you were just going to steal them."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I just told you I have plans for a device to break the barrier around the Isle of the Lost. That should freak out everybody."

"True, but you only have plans for one, you haven't built it yet," Ben replied as he grabbed the papers and began to look through them. The plans were extremely detailed and, as far as Ben could tell, were absolutely sound.

"You know Carlos, I am glad you told me about this. Have you ever made a working one of these?"

"Yeah, I was trying to get more channels for my television set. It cut a hole in the barrier for a couple of seconds before it just blew. After that, the thing just kept beeping. Before I could figure out how to fix it, the proclamation came."

"Well, what if I helped you with building a working one?" Ben offered. He was surprised to find confusion all over Carlos' face.

"Why would you do that? That would undo everything that Auradon has accomplished."

"Only if you used it, and from what I gather, you don't want to go back to the Isle, so why would you use it?"

"But what about Mal, Evie, and Jay?"

"All of them have friends and are getting along in school just fine. I seriously doubt that any of them would."

Carlos knew better than to tell Ben that Mal and Jay were playing him for a fool. He decided that as long as Ben believed that no one would use the barrier breaker, then he would help him built it.

"So, let's make a deal." Ben said, bringing Carlos out of his thoughts, "I will help you build the barrier breaker. In return, I want you to stop hanging out up in towers like a captured maiden and start hanging out with other students. You can even hang out with me if you want, but you have to hang out with people. Deal?" Ben held the paper out to Carlos, a smile lighting up his face.

"Deal." Carlos smiled back as he took the papers.

"Cool, then tomorrow after school, you and I are going to the Museum of Cultural History. I want to show you how different the world out here is from the Isle of the Lost." Ben turned and began to make his way down through the trap door in the roof. He was halfway down when he realized that Carlos was still sitting on the roof. "Hey, why don't you come have supper with me?"

"What about Audrey and Chad?"

"Well, only one way to find out."

Carlos grinned at that statement. There was deviousness about Ben's face that Carlos couldn't miss.

"Careful, people might think their new King is becoming one of us," Carlos replied while he began to gather up his things.

* * *

As night descended on Auradon, Mal's excitement grew. With every passing minute, her victory came closer. Once she and Jay got Fairy Godmother's Wand, they could return to the Isle of the Lost and free her mom and all the rest of the villains.

As she and Jay arrived at the museum, however, they came across their first problem.

"This place is massive. How are we going to find the wand in here?" Jay asked, voicing the question that was in Mal's head.

"Let's just try and get in first, and then we can worry about finding it," Mal suggested.

Mal and Jay spent the next several minutes wandering around the museum, testing doors. They skipped one where a security guard was sitting at a desk at first, trying to avoid him. But upon realizing that every other door was locked, they finally decided that they would have to deal with the security guard. As they were looking for a way in, Jay noticed something.

"That's your mother's spinning wheel? Hahahaha." Jay comment, spotting the spinning wheel that was right behind the security officer on duty.

"It's magic, it doesn't have to look scary." Mal retorted as she pulled out her mother's spell book, an idea forming in her head.

"Magic Spindle, Do not linger, make my victim prick a finger." Mal was more than frustrated when the only thing that happened was the security guard yawned.

"Impressive."

"Okay. You know what." Mal turned back to the book. "Prick the finger, Prick it deep, send my enemy off to sleep." This time, the security guard stood up. After a couple seconds of entranced staring, he reached for the spinning wheel. When he touched the spinning wheel, there was a small pop as green sparks shot from the contact. The guard yawned and then promptly curled up next to the spinning wheel and fell asleep.

"Not so dorky now. Hah." Mal gave a smug smile as she reached for the handle, only to find that this door was also locked. As she tried to force the door open, Jay began to get a smug smile on his face.

"Stand back." He said as he steadily walked backward.

"Make it easy, make it quick, open up without a kick." Mal charmed quickly. Jay charged the door at full speed as it swung open on its own, allowing Jay to fly through the open door and land on his butt. Mal laughed as she walked in behind Jay, giving him a slight kick as she passed. "Coming?"

Jay quickly gathered himself off the floor and began to follow Mal. As he looked around, he was in a thieves dream. Artifacts of all kinds were left around completely unprotected, ripe for the taking. Jay saw clothes and armors that could easily sell on the Isle of the Lost for more than everything in his dad's shop combined. He even caught a glimpse of the famed lamp of Agrabah that his dad had told him about. Jay knew exactly the first thing he would steal after all the villains on the Isle of the Lost were free. But for now, he needed to stick with Mal and find the wand.

As the two departed deep into the museum, they failed to notice a certain white haired fourteen-year-old sneaking into the museum entrance that they left wide open. Carlos quietly closed the doors behind him and made his way over to the security desk. He searched through the desk's many drawers, looking for all the information he could. He found two things of use. First was a manual on the security system, which held all the details about the alarms, security camera's, and even the secure line from the museum to the Auradon Secret Service. There was no way to cut the connection from the alarms to the Secret Service without alerting them, but Carlos did find that if he called them and told them that he would be testing the alarms, he could keep them from responding to a break in. Carlos knew he couldn't let Mal and Jay steal the want because that would free his mother from the Isle, but if they were caught trying to steal the wand, then Carlos would be sent back to the Isle of the Lost anyway, and he couldn't afford to be sent back this early. He needed at least a week before to build and test the Barrier Breaker. Before that, he couldn't afford for Mal or Jay to screw things up for him. Without any further hesitation, he dialed the number to the Secret Service that was listed in the manual.

The next half hour of the night found Jay and Mal searching in every corridor for the wand. Every minute found Mal regretting not being able to use the mirror even more. Finally, they came across the front entrance of the museum and found the maps that guests would use when they came to visit. After finding the Wand's location on the map, which apparently was the main attraction of the entire museum and therefore pointed out in bold letters, Jay and Mal made a beeline for the location. The Chamber of the Wand was a two story room with a domed roof. Light shone in from above, lighting up the wand, which hovered in the middle of the room for all to see. Jay stared right at it, his heart racing as he realized he was only inches away from making history. He ducked under the railing around the area where the wand was floating.

"Jay, don't," Mal ordered, realizing what Jay had planned. Jay gave her a small grin before continuing.

"Wait, no, no, no," Mal yelled as Jay reached out for the wand. As Jay's hand reached the light, an invisible force field sent him flying backward. An alarm blared overhead, causing Mal to cover her ears. Jay rose from the floor slowly, reeling from the force of the throw.

"Let's go," Mal called as she turned and fled the chamber, Jay following as quickly as he could.

Carlos had been prepared for an alarm to go off for awhile, but the amount of noise caught him off guard. It also awoke the sleeping guard nearby. Carlos dove over the security desk and prayed that the guard hadn't seen him. The sound of footsteps moving away let him know that the guard was more interested in the alarm than anything else.

The moment the guard was gone, Carlos was back behind the security desk. He was glad that he had already called the security force. Now all he had to do was shut down the alarm before the guard found the source of the noise. He typed the code into the keypad as fast as he could and was grateful for the lack of noise. Until he heard feet storming down the hall toward him.

When he turned around, he saw Mal and Jay, faces blanketed in confusion, running straight toward him. Jay gave Carlos a deep glare before racing past him toward the door. Carlos raced off after them, making sure to once again close the door behind him.

* * *

When the group finally got back to the dorm, they all collapsed into the nearest piece of furniture to catch their breath. The peace lasted all of three seconds before Jay got back up, grabbed Carlos by the collar of his jacket, and slammed into the wall of the dorm room.

"Gah." Carlos grunted in pain, "Is this going to be a thing with you?" He asked, his voice filled with irritation.

"What in the world were you doing at the museum tonight, short stock?" Jay yelled, raising Carlos a little bit higher off the floor.

"Making sure you didn't get caught," Carlos yelled back.

"And why do you care?" Mal questioned, glaring daggers into Carlos.

"Because if you get caught, we all get sent back to the Isle of the Lost, not just you and Jay." Carlos was talking to Mal but didn't break eye contact with Jay for a minute.

"So? If we get the wand, then it doesn't matter." Mal rose from the chair she was in, frustrated.

"And if we get sent back without it, then we all die. If you fail your mission, then you, Jay, Evie, and me will be fed to Ursula for lunch without a second thought. I don't care about you, but I don't intend to die because you two messed up a simple robbery."

Mal thought for a second about what Carlos had said, and was annoyed at how right he was. Whether she liked it or not, Carlos and Evie had been sent to Auradon with her and Mal. She had barely considered their thoughts on things while she had been plotting.

"Jay set him down." Mal didn't have to watch Jay listen to her; she just had to hear the thump. She turned back to Carlos, who was rising back up from the floor. "Since you have such a big stake in this, why don't you help us get the wand?"

"No."

"No?" Mal had never been told no by anyone except her mother. Now, this little shrimp was saying it to her face.

"Yeah, no. I am not going back to the Isle without a good reason. You may want to impress your mother, but I hate mine. I am not going back, ever." Carlos glared her down. Carlos' heart was pumping. Adrenaline raced through his veins and his mind focused on one thing. Survival. To go back to the Isle meant certain doom for him, regardless if they had the wand or not. His mother would make his life a living nightmare if he ever went back. He turned from Mal and went back to his bed. He sat down and stared at the floor, ignoring the looks from Jay and Mal.

"Whatever, I'm going to bed. Jay, we'll meet up tomorrow and come up with a way to deal with the force field." Mal didn't even wait for a response before leaving the room, leaving Jay running his hands through his hair in frustration.

Jay knew that Carlos was right. If they had been caught, then all four of them would be dead. It was one of the reasons Jay had hated running with crews in the past. If even one member messed up, the entire team was done for. But he also realized something else. It was the one fear he had back when they first entered the limousine. Evie and Carlos had no intention of helping them. In fact, it looked like they had every reason to sell out Mal and Jay. Evie might not have any knowledge of what was going on, but Carlos had more than enough information to get Jay and Mal in trouble. Jay knew that the next couple of days would decide the fate of all four of the VK's.


	7. Chapter 7

**Wow, you guys are amazing. After uploading Chapter six, I was amazed by the number of follows, favorites, and reviews that I received. I am also very happy at how everyone is receiving my characters, especially Carlos.**

 **So a very big thank you to PapukaDex, KitsunePrince, malfoyravenclaw555, JadeRedCloud, and the three guests for their reviews, and to Starflight34 and Excellentsunny for continued reviews on my story.**

 **Now time for the bad news. There is no way for me to get around it, so I must apologize to you guys. I am going to have to upload every two weeks instead of every week like I originally promised. The chapters are continuing to get longer and my time for writing them is continuing to shrink. Again, I apologize.**

* * *

Doug was distracted the next day during the Robotics Club meeting. Now that Evie was taking Chemistry seriously, she spent a lot less time talking to him. He almost wished she wouldn't do so well just so he could spend more time with her. They were using studying together as a pretense for hanging out, but they both knew that Evie didn't need the help anymore. Once she had started picking up on the material, she became almost obsessed with it.

What was troubling was that Chad had also noticed this. Doug was worried that Chad might move in and start trying to use Evie for his own personal gain. He was also worried that Evie would go for it, considering what she had told him about her past. Doug had to protect her happiness.

While Doug was lost in thought, he had failed to notice Ben and Carlos walking in. So when Ben tapped his shoulder to get his attention, Doug all but screamed. After gathering himself together, and much blushing brought on by everyone's laughter, Doug gave Ben his full attention.

"Hey Doug, you remember Carlos right?" Ben smiled warmly as he gestured to the white haired boy next to him.

"Yeah, you're Cruella's son, right? I remember you from the tour I gave. How have you been?" Doug asked, shaking Carlos' hand.

"Oh, um, good," Carlos replied nervously.

"Great. So what can I do for you guys?" Doug clapped his hands together, getting down to business.

"Well, you see, Carlos has plans for a machine, and I was hoping you and the Robotics Club would help him build it."

"Sure, you guys got the plans?"

"Right here," Carlos said as he handed over a small collection of papers. Doug took them and spread them out over one of the empty desks. After a couple of moments of glancing around, Doug noticed two things. The first was that the plans were very in depth and Carlos had not missed covering a single aspect. Doug had grown used to people giving him pictures and ideas and leaving all the real work and science of it to the Robotics Club, but Carlos had accounted for power, parts, and had solved every problem that could possibly occur. The most interesting part was that Carlos had based the plans on the least expensive products he could find. The project in its entirety would cost less than what the school spent on a single student's meal. But the second thing Doug discovered made him nervous.

"Hey Ben, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure." Ben could already kind of guess at what it was that Doug wanted to talk about, but he went with him to a corner of the room while a couple of the other members of the club began to look at the plans.

"Have you looked at these plans?" Doug asked in a whisper

"Yes, and they seem pretty sound to me." Ben watched as the group around the plans steadily got bigger. He also watched as Carlos began to shuffle backward and rub the back of his neck.

"And do you know what that thing will do once it's built?"

"Yeah, it will be able to punch holes in the barrier around the Isle." Ben watched as the members began asking Carlos questions about the design and the parts and other technical questions that he would never understand.

"So you know all this. Why are you not freaking out about it?"

"Because Carlos needs a reason to trust us. This project is our one and only shot at convincing him that we are not going to send him back to Isle after he graduates. If he spends his entire time here in Auradon afraid that we are going to send him back to the Isle, then this place will just be another prison for him to try and escape. I want him, and the others, to be comfortable here at Auradon. If that means letting Carlos build a machine that punches holes in the barrier around the Isle, then so be it."

Doug took a glance toward the group. Carlos was now in the middle of it, answering every question thrown at him without hesitation. Even if Doug wanted to say no now, the Robotics Club was already too excited for the project. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't a little excited to build the Barrier Breaker himself.

"Besides," Ben continued, not taking his eyes off the scene, "Who here in Auradon would use it?"

* * *

Jay relaxed under a tree during lunch, watching lazily as Mal cast spells on girl's hair. As he wondered just how many girls were in this school, and how Mal kept on a smile when she was very clearly angry, Lonnie broke away from the group and headed toward him.

"So, I hear that you have been making waves with the Tourney Team?" Lonnie knelt down next to him, wrapping her arms around her knees, readying her self for a long conversation

"Yeah, you could say that I'm stealing the show." Jay threw up his signature grin.

"Well, you might have to compete with Dude for that," Lonnie replied laughing.

"Oh really? And who is this Dude that I need to compete with? I might be able to give him a run for his money."

"Tell you what, how about I introduce you to him, and you tell me how likely it is that you can steal the show from him." She rose quickly, holding out a hand for Jay. Jay took the hand out of courtesy but was surprised at how strong she was.

"Wow, if I didn't know any better, I would say that you grew up on the Isle of the Lost."

"Well, my mom is Mulan, so kind of the same thing," Lonnie replied as she began taking the lead.

"I have heard of her from Shan Yu. He has quite a bit of respect for her, even if she did defeat him."

"Oh really? What does he do on the Isle nowadays?" Lonnie asked.

"He has a food stand on the Isle. Mal used to ask him to tell her stories about the old days to distract him while I stole food from behind his back."

"Wow. So he went from leading an army to having a food stand. That must have been a shift."

"Yeah, well it's the same for everyone on the Isle of the Lost. They were all privileged and powerful at one point, but now they are all scratching a living off an overcrowded rock, fighting for scraps and leftovers and junk like common alley cats." A darkness passed over Jay's face as he remembered life back on the Isle. Lonnie's smile dropped for a second out of sympathy for Jay. Whatever he was feeling, Lonnie felt it was best not to pry.

"Hey, why are we heading to the Tourney field? Practice isn't until later." Jay's face lit up again as he changed the subject, burying the thoughts, memories, and emotions that had begun to bubble up inside him.

"Oh, it's where Dude usually hangs out. If he's not on the field, he is usually wandering around the grounds somewhere. But we have a trick that always brings him running."

As they strolled onto the field, Lonnie made her way toward the shed where all the Tourney equipment was stored. She opened the door to the shed and walked in while Jay waited outside. Jay looked around the field, glancing at the few students who were around, eating lunch or working out. For the first time since leaving the Isle, it dawned on him how open the world of Auradon seemed to be. On the Isle, things were always crowded and loud and closed in. There weren't really any places like the Tourney field, full of grass and sunshine and fresh air. Things seemed almost too quiet in Auradon.

Lonnie came out of the shed holding a whistle in one hand and a bone in the other. She laughed at the look of confusion on Jay's face. She raised the whistle to her lips and blew as hard as she could. Jay, who had gone to cover his ears, was more than a little surprised when no noise escaped the whistle.

"I think your whistle is broken."

"Just wait."

A moment later, several barks rang out as a small, brown dog came sprinted across the field. Lonnie knelt down, holding the bone where the dog could see it. The dog all but knocked her backward when he jumped onto her.

"Wait, Dude is a dog?" Jay asked as Lonnie surrendered the bone to Dude.

"Yeah, Dude is the school mascot. So, still think you can steal the show?" Lonnie smiled.

"You know what, you're right. There is not a chance of me competing with this guy." Jay replied as he knelt down and patted Dude on the head.

* * *

While Lonnie and Jay hung out, Carlos worked on the Barrier Breaker. Aside from classes, Carlos had spent his entire day working on it. The sooner he got it finished, the sooner he would be guaranteed to never have to go back to the Isle. The only problem he had was that the thing was going to end up being the size of a small hand held lantern. The power source needed to maintain the beam was bigger than the one he used back on the Isle. The problem with that was that everything needed to be adjusted to compensate or the power source would fry the machine.

Another thing was that the original machine used a wand as a sort of antennae. It was what had produced the beam the first time. Much to Carlos' surprise, all the wands in Auradon were either in a museum or lost after the Kingdoms had agreed to abandon magic for a normal lifestyle. The Robotics Club had suggested using parts from a flashlight instead.

Carlos was pulled from his thoughts by the door to the classroom opening up. His first thought was to hide the project from who ever it was that was coming in. Aside from Ben and the Robotics Club, Carlos didn't trust anyone to find out what he was up to. The repercussions would be horrible. He was surprised to find Doug walking in with a girl that Carlos recognized. He had seen her when the VK's parents had gathered together, but he didn't actually learn her name.

"What are you doing here?" Carlos shot a wary look in the girl's direction, ignoring Doug altogether.

"Carlos, she's cool. She is with me." Doug piped up quickly.

"Relax Carlos, I didn't even know you were going to be here until just now. I wanted to spend lunch time with Doug and he said that he had a project he was working on up here."

"Alright, but I have to ask you a question in private first." Carlos grabbed her hand and took her to the hallway, leaving behind a confused, and slightly worried, Doug.

After they got to the hallway, Carlos closed the door and faced the girl.

"Hi, I'm Evie." She said without a moment's hesitation.

"Oh, um," Carlos was a little put off by Evie's openness with him. "Hi, I'm Carlos."

"To answer your question, no, I am not working with Mal. I don't even know what she's been up to lately." Evie quickly explained, knowing full well what was running through Carlos mind and taking a risk in explaining things to him.

"How did you know I was going to ask that?"

"Well, there are only four Villain Kids in this school, and now half of them are standing in a hallway, acting suspiciously."

"Sorry, Mal and I had an argument last night and I didn't know if this was her way of getting to me or not."

"Don't worry. Mal wouldn't even let me in on the heist. She is still mad at me about not inviting her to my birthday party when I was six. She stole my mirror and left me to do whatever I wanted." Evie explained. She left out the part where she told Mal no, not wanting to gloat.

"Yeah, she's been treating me the same way. She and Jay think I am too small and cowardly to help them."

"Cool, so now that we trust each other, how about we go back into the classroom before the guy I like starts to worry." Evie gave Carlos a warm smile as he opened the door to the classroom and headed back inside.

As they came back in, Carlos headed straight for the workbench while Evie headed over to Doug.

"What was that about?" Doug asked

"Oh, just being friendly." Evie may have been banned from the Isle with her mother, but even she knew the rules of the villains. If Carlos hadn't spilled the beans about the real reason Mal and Jay were at Auradon Prep, then neither would she.

"Okay, well glad you guys are getting along. So want to check out the new project that the Robotics Club is working on?"

"How many clubs are you apart of?"

"I am in five, but I am only in charge of two of them," Doug explained like it was no small feat.

"How do you do all that and maintain high grades?"

"Very carefully," Doug replied with a sheepish grin.

"So what is this project, mister super star?" Evie teased as Doug led her over to the table.

"Well, Carlos has named it the Barrier Breaker. He actually designed the whole thing. The robotics club is helping him build a better version of the one he originally built on the Isle of the Lost."

"You built a machine that can punch holes in the barrier around the Isle while you were on the Isle?" Evie was now really impressed with the fourteen-year-old in front of her.

"Yeah, I was trying to get more than two television channels on my T.V. set at home."

"You built a machine that can break the barrier around the Isle of the Lost and you decided to use it to watch T.V.?" Evie went from awestruck to confused in three seconds flat.

"Well, the one I built wasn't very big and only stayed on for a couple of seconds. After that, the beam died and the stupid thing just kept beeping. I am hoping that this one will actually do the trick."

"I am surprised that they are letting you build something that could release the villains from the Isle."

"Their not. This thing will only make a hole big enough for a single person to get through and will only break the barrier when the beam is cutting through it. If the beam is off, then the barrier will fix itself. It's the same principle as what they used in the limousine that brought us to Auradon." Carlos explained as he worked, never taking his eyes off his project.

"Cool," Evie said. She realized pretty quickly why Carlos didn't want anyone to figure out about the machine. This machine only makes a temporary hole in the barrier. Physically walking through the barrier was the job of the person holding it. This wasn't a device for letting anyone onto the Isle of the Lost, this was Carlos' escape plan if anyone decided that sending him back to the Isle was the only option. Prince Ben and Doug wanted Carlos to realize that they trusted him enough to give him a way to get off the Isle of the Lost. But Evie wondered what was on the Isle that made Carlos decide that he absolutely needed a guaranty that he would never be stuck on the Isle again. Evie could only guess after being trapped with her mother for sixteen years.

"Wait, you guys only get two television channels on the Isle of the Lost?" Doug piped up.

"Yeah. We get some channel from Auradon and a local dungeon shopping channel." Carlos explained.

"That's crazy. We have like a thousand channels out here. I knew the dome kept magic off the Isle, but I didn't know it kept channels from broadcasting there."

"It keeps everything out or in. That's why those storm clouds are always above us." This time it was Evie who spoke.

"So no internet, phones, or even video games?" Doug asked. It was slowly dawning on him how little he actually knew about his classmates or the place that they came from.

"Nope," Carlos replied, "We are totally in charge of entertaining ourselves when we actually have free time."

"What do mean, when you actually have free time?" Doug couldn't miss how Carlos' face reddened at the question or the look of relief when Evie answered first.

"When your parents are the biggest villains in the world, let's just say there is a reputation to be maintained." Evie wasn't covering for Carlos so much as she was just trying to move past the subject that had raised so many bad memories of her own. Doug pretended to understand the answer. He could tell from the way that Evie avoided eye contact that she didn't feel like discussing things either.

"So when you guys have free time, how do you spend it?"

"I used to stare at Auradon and watch the city lights at night. I always wanted to come here and hang out with royalty, having a huge castle and a dress for every day of the year." Evie got a dreamy look in her eye that Doug found to be the cutest look on her.

"What about you Carlos?"

"If I could get out of the house, then I would head to the Goblin Wharf or the Bazaar and try to steal the least stale food I could find," Carlos remembered running through the Bazaar with Jace and Harry, grabbing food from stands as they raced past them so as not to get caught by the vendors.

"Why did you steal food? I thought the Kingdom had arranged for enough food to be brought to the Isle of the Lost for everyone?" This time Carlos set down his screwdriver and fixed Doug with a look that would put his uncle Grumpy to shame.

"That food," Carlos added a healthy dose of sarcasm to the word food "is the leftovers of all you Royals that live over here. After you guys pick out the absolute best of the best for your parties and banquets, you send the scraps to us. You guys are over here choosing between crumpets and croissants while we are fighting to get the least rotten looking fruit from a ship run by goblins. You people don't even care that the bulk of the food is taken by the most powerful villains on the Isle. Most of us have to fight just get one meal a day, while you people have three banquets a day for fun." Carlos' voice had slowly intensified to where he was all but yelling at Doug by the end. Doug glanced at Evie for affirmation, but she was again refusing to make eye contact with him. He decided that it was probably best to just stop talking at this point.

"Look, I'm … sorry," Carlos said after several minutes of awkward silence.

"No, I understand. Most of us here in Auradon don't think about the Isle of the Lost. When we do, all we can think about are the stories of your parent's evil deeds. We tend to just assume that the kids are like their parents and that they are just waiting to wreak havoc across Auradon."

"Forget or ignore?" Carlos asked before he could stop himself. Doug cringed at the question before deciding that it was probably best if he leaves the VK's alone. But as he started to gather his stuff together, Evie put a hand on his own.

"Carlos, apologize for that last remark." Evie's voice was level and stern.

"I'm sorry." Carlos rubbed the back of his neck and it was his turn to not make eye contact with Doug. Doug sat down at Evie's urging.

"The people in Auradon are not entirely wrong about us growing up to be like our parent's, but that is because they have left us trapped with them at the Isle. There are those of us, who aren't actually evil, we are just doing what our parents tell us to." Evie explained as she continued to hold Doug's hand. "Now, I came up here to have lunch with my boyfriend whom, last I checked, is not Carlos. So, Doug lets eat before the food gets any colder. Carlos, I only made enough for two, but I am more than willing to share if you are." Evie gave Carlos a kind hearted smile. There was no malice and no one was trying to trick him or make him do anything. For the second time ever, someone genuinely wanted to be friends with him.

"Sure."

* * *

As the final school bell rang, Ben was looking forward to the afternoon. But as he made his way up to the Robotics Club to pick up Carlos, he was surprised to run into Audrey.

"Hey, Bennyboo." She greeted as she grabbed his hands.

"Hey, Audrey."

"So what are you up to this afternoon?"

"I'm going to the Museum of Cultural History."

"Why would you want to go to that old place? Didn't you go there enough as a kid?" Audrey asked

"As the soon to be king, trust me when I say that one can never know too much about the many cultures of Auradon. Besides, the trip isn't for me."

"Oh, really? Then who are you taking?" Audrey's curiosity was peaked and it plain all over her face. Ben steeled himself for the onslaught that would follow his answer.

"Carlos. I want to show him that Auradon is not as bad as the Isle of the Lost and that we aren't just going to send him back to Auradon when he finishes school." Ben watched as Audrey's almost eternal smile took on a confused tone.

"Wait, you mean the villain kids are staying in Auradon? But their villains."

"No, their parents are villains, not them. As of yet none of the VK's have done anything wrong."

"Nothing wrong? Mal spends all day casting spells on the girl's hair and Fairy Godmother is not happy about it."

"What's wrong with that?"

"It's gateway magic. It starts with the hair, then it the lips, the legs, the clothes, then everybody will look good, and then…where will I be."

Ben had always shown Audrey a great level of patience because of the way she was raised, but Ben was starting to get exhausted with the conversation.

"Why don't you come with us? Then you can see how bad they really are." Ben offered. Audrey thought about for a moment before sighing heavily.

"I'll come with you, but it's only to make sure that he doesn't try to cast a spell on you or something." She conceited. Ben decided it was best to take the victory and not remind Audrey that Carlos couldn't do magic.

* * *

As the trio entered the museum a little while later, they were surprised to be greeted by the Museum's Head of Security.

"Afternoon, Prince Ben. I didn't realize that you had already been told." The man explained as he gave a customary bow to the Prince. Carlos was a little scared of the fact that unlike the night guard that he had seen the night before, this guy was tall enough that, even when he bowed, he was still taller than Ben.

"Told about what?" Ben and Audrey traded confused looks with each other.

"Oh, my apologies. I assumed that you were here because of the break in last night." The man explained.

"There was a break in?" Ben asked. Behind him, Audrey instantly shot an accusatory look at Carlos, who was trying very hard to hide how nervous he was.

"Yes, my Prince, last night, the night guard had a spell cast on him and was put to sleep. He was awoken by alarms and went to investigate, but found that nothing was missing. He said that while he was looking around, the alarms turned themselves. When he called the Secret Security about the matter, he was told that they had been informed of that the night guard would be testing alarms. The night guard explained that he never made a call and that he was not testing the alarms that night. This morning, he told us of what transpired and we looked through the security footage."

"Were you able to spot the culprit?" Ben asked inquisitively.

"As you know, the security cameras only watch the artifacts in the museum, not the actual halls and people in them. The camera only caught the arm of the person who tried to break in."

Carlos mentally chastised himself for not going through the security footage and making sure that all footage of Jay and Mal were erased. He had, mistakenly, assumed that everything would be good. It had not occurred to him that the night guard would do anything.

"Let me see the footage." Ben stepped around the desk and watched the footage from the night before. He watched as a tan arm reached for the wand from the side, only to be repelled backward by the force field around the wand. Even if the security camera's played audio, Ben wouldn't need to hear it to know who the hand belonged to. He gave a glance to Carlos, who had a worried look in his eye. Ben decided to that this issue needed to be handled very carefully.

"Well, that's weird. But no, I wasn't told anything about this. I was just bringing my friends to the museum to show them around." Ben explained with a smile. Ben had never learned to just lie, but being a soon to be king had taught him how to control the information he gave people. While he rarely used that ability to mislead people, he had done enough to be good at it. He stepped back out from behind the security counter and walked toward his friends.

"Sorry for disturbing your afternoon, Prince Ben." The guard gave another bow.

"It wasn't an inconvenience. I am going to be King soon, so it is probably best that I learn about these kinds of things sooner rather than later." Prince Ben gently grabbed Carlos' arm and began to guide him away toward an area of the museum that was as crowded, Audrey following close behind. Once they were in a quiet corner, Ben let go of Carlos and looked straight at him. Carlos was surprised to find that, even now, Ben didn't seem upset, but rather concerned.

"Alright, Carlos, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on. So I am going to ask you one question. I really need you to tell me the truth, alright?" Ben explained. Audrey was surprised by the level of concern that Ben was still giving Carlos. She was more than ready to blame him for everything. Carlos took a deep, calming breath before looking Ben in the eyes.

"Okay."

"You can't see the thief in the footage, only his arm, and there is no audio on the cameras. The arm that reached for the wand had tanned skin and was muscular, so I know it wasn't yours. So tell me truthfully, were you involved with the break in last night?" Both Ben and Audrey looked at Carlos, waiting for an answer. Carlos heavily debated lying to them, but he knew that if Mal was caught, she would tell them about his involvement in the crime anyway. Carlos decided to go against everything inside him that screamed lie or to run.

"Yes, but not in the way that you think." Carlos began, trying to get his whole case out before people started jumping to conclusions, "Last night, I saw that Mal and Jay were leaving the school. I followed them here and tried to make sure they wouldn't get caught."

"What do you mean, you followed them? Aren't you all friends?" Audrey did nothing to hide the accusatory tone in her voice.

"No, Mal hates Evie and has been keeping her distance from her since they arrived. Up until last night, both Mal and Jay thought I was just some shrimpy coward who couldn't help at all." Carlos glared at Audrey through the entire explanation. Ben decided to keep the conversation from getting any more volatile than it already was.

"So why did you help them last night? Why not let them get caught?" Ben asked.

"Because I knew the moment they got caught, then all of Auradon would have the four of us sent back to the Isle, not just Mal and Jay."

"That's not how things work in Auradon." Ben tried to explain.

"Really? How about you ask your girlfriend about that?" Carlos fixed Audrey with a glare, which was returned with just as much fury.

"Audrey, is he right?" Audrey could hear the sadness in his voice and she realized that it wasn't just the villain kids who would be in trouble if things went south. Ben would be scrutinized over every decision he ever made after his first royal proclamation ended in horrific failure.

"Yes, if it was up to me, I would have all four of them sent back to the Isle." Audrey wasn't angry at Carlos for being right, but she was hurt at the disapproval and hurt that marred Ben's face when he heard her answer.

"Yeah, you Auradon people didn't leave me much choice. It's either I protected Mal and Jay or be sent back to the Isle of the Lost for a crime I wasn't even involved with. But things are getting bad now. If Mal and Jay get that wand, then they will release all the villains, and their kids, onto Auradon. Believe me when I say, that Auradon would be defenseless against that onslaught."

Ben thought about Carlos' and Audrey's words for a moment.

"Then I guess I will have to handle this myself."


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey, guys. So this was originally going to be a longer chapter, but I think I am going to split it into two parts. Let me know If I made the right call. If I did, then I will upload the next part in two weeks. If not, then I will fix it next week. But I need reviews on the chapter to let me know.**

 **Secondly, shout out to Malfoyravenclaw555, Excellentsunny101, Carmine De Vil, and to the two guests for the reviews on Chapter Seven. I know there was a lot of excitement for this chapter after Carlos' big reveal last week. I hope you guys enjoy. To ease the fears of one of my reviewers, no I am not doing the love potion plot line, so you no reason to worry.**

* * *

As the sun set on the Villain Kids fourth day in Auradon, Mal was more frustrated than ever. The wand had all but been in their grasp the night before, but they still couldn't get their hands on it. She stared out the window of her room at the setting sun, listening to the sounds of Jay talking with Lonnie. All the trouble since she had arrived in Auradon just to be thwarted by magic. She wondered if this was how her mother felt after the fairy's had foiled her plans.

Mal turned from the window and went to the table where her bag was laying. She pulled out her mom's spell book and began looking through the pages one by one. There were a wide variety of spells from the mundane, how to make your voice deeper, to the dangerous, how to grow a thorn forest in three seconds flat, but Mal had yet to see a spell that she could actually use to break barriers. She guessed that if it were that easy, she wouldn't need the wand.

There was a knock on the door which Jay went to answer. To everyone's surprise, Ben stood there, his usual grin replaced by a concerned look.

"Hey, Ben the Beast, what's up?" Jay threw on his trademark smirk as he stepped to the side and let Ben enter, but even Jay could tell that something was up.

"Hey, Lonnie, can I talk to Mal and Jay alone for a bit?" Ben asked, really hoping that Lonnie wouldn't make a big deal out of things. Carlos had given Ben all the details behind the heist during the drive back to the school. How the VK's parents had ordered them to do it, how Mal had excluded both Evie and him from the heist for various reasons, and even how he had fooled everyone on security into thinking the alarm going off was just a test. Ben was seriously going to have to look at how security was run in Auradon after this whole fiasco was sorted out.

"Okay. Jay, I will talk to you later." Lonnie was both confused and concerned by Ben's face but decided it was best to try and ask questions later. As Jay closed the door behind her, his own signature grin dropped.

"What's up, Ben?" Mal asked.

"I know about the heist you guys tried to pull last night and about how Maleficent ordered you to steal the wand from Auradon to free the villains," Ben stated plainly, wanting to get things rolling quickly. Jay rubbed his hands over his face, frustration clear on his face as he flopped down on one of the beds. Mal maintained a straight face, but for the first time in her life, she was actually afraid. It was not a pleasant feeling and she swore to make someone pay for it.

"I just came here to tell you guys that I am not reporting you or sending you back to the Isle." Ben continued, gaining questioning looks from both VK's, "I brought you guys to Auradon to be free of the Isle and your parents. I want you to know that your parents are trapped and you don't have to worry about them anymore. But I need you guys to promise me something."

"What?" Jay asked

"I need you to promise me that you won't try to steal the wand again. I know you guys think you need to get it to your parents, but they are trapped on the Isle for a reason and you guys were brought to Auradon for a reason. Please don't be like them."

"Alright, you got your self a deal. As long as you aren't sending us back to the Isle, we promise not to try and steal the wand again." Jay's signature grin returned as he slung his arm over Ben's shoulder in a show of friendship, but making it a point to let Mal see the fingers crossed behind his back.

"Yeah, we totally promise not to try and steal the wand again," Mal replied, crossing her own fingers behind her back as well and giving Ben her most princess-like smile.

"Alright, thanks a lot, guys. Glad we had this talk." Ben replied as he made his way to the door, Jay following close behind. Ben ignored the uneasy feeling in his stomach. He knew that even in Auradon, there was such a thing as too good to be true.

Jay and Mal waited for a minute after closing the door behind Ben. After he was sure that it was safe, Jay busted out laughing. Mal took a deep breath and sighed before crossing to the window.

"So which of them do you think spilled the beans?" Jay asked as he sat down on one of the beds.

"It was probably Carlos," Mal answered, staring out at the grounds as lights began to highlight the walkways and fountains. "Ben was looking for him yesterday. Probably found him and was nice to the squirt, so the squirt decided that he wanted to be an Auradon kid instead."

"So you want me to get back at him?" Jay asked, his trademark grin taking on a devious edge.

"I seriously doubt Ben would be okay with that. We should probably lie low for now and save the payback for when we get the wand." Mal talked with a threatening tone that let Jay know that she was only prioritizing the wand over her desire to get swift vengeance like she would've if they were still back on the Isle. Jay thought for a second before an idea popped into his head.

"What if I could guaranty that we wouldn't get in trouble?" Jay offered, peeking Mal's interest.

"Then I am all ears," Mal replied, facing Jay, who had a grin that she was all too familiar with from the Isle.

* * *

The next morning, after Jay was sure that Carlos had left their dorm, Jay quickly rose and got dressed. He quickly made his way to the sports locker near the Tourney Field. There, he made quick work of the lock on the door and grabbed the whistle that Lonnie had shown him yesterday, as well as a small bone from the treat bag that was next to the whistle.

For the next phase of his plan, he waited till all four of the VK's had finished their Remedial Goodness class before approaching Carlos. Carlos backed away slightly when Jay got close. Jay had a hard time believing that this was the same kid who had yelled at him and Mal a couple of days ago. He threw up his hands showing that he came with "good" intentions.

"Relax, I just have a request for you. Are you only good with computers or can you fix things too?" Jay asked, throwing up his most calming smile.

"Depending on what it is, I can probably fix it," Carlos replied cautiously. In all the years that he had known Jay, Jay had never once talked to him without trying to get something out of it.

"Great, I have a broken whistle and I want you to fix it." Jay wrapped an arm around Carlos' shoulders as if they were best buds, ignoring how Carlos seemed to flinch at the sudden contact.

"What's in it for me?" Carlos asked.

"Well, if it was a job that only I was asking you to do, I would say any one item from my haul. But this is for the Tourney Team, so nothing."

Carlos thought about it for a second and decided, against his better judgment, to help Jay out.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do. Just bring it by this classroom at lunch." Carlos wrote down the class room number on a piece of paper that he then handed to Jay. Jay gave Carlos a smile as the smaller boy quickly made his way out of the room. He looked over to Mal, who smiled as well. Everything was going according to plan.

When lunch rolled around, Jay met up with Carlos in the classroom where the Robotics Club met. Jay glanced at the project that the club was working on, which was scattered across a couple of work tables now.

"What is that thing?" Jay asked as he glanced at the plans. "The Barrier Breaker? What is this some kind of device to punch holes in walls?" Jay asked. Carlos quickly snatched up the plans and rolled them up.

"It's just a project that the Robotics Club is working on. So don't get any funny ideas about stealing it." Carlos tucked the plans away inside one of the drawers of the desk at the front of the classroom. Jay ignored the five to ten different ways he could get his hands on the plans in order to focus on his real goal, but he did keep the plans in mind. If everything worked out well, he would be able to catch a glance at the plans in a few minutes anyway.

"Whatever, I am only here to get this whistle fixed. I couldn't care less about you and your club." Jay pulled out the whistle while he talked and held it up for Carlos to see.

"It looks fine to me," Carlos commented, his curiosity undermining his cautiousness of Jay. Carlos stepped out from behind the desk to closer examine the whistle. Jay raised the whistle and gave it a powerful blow, slightly as a show for Carlos, but also to make sure that there was no way it wouldn't be heard. The last thing he wanted was for this whole thing to go sideways.

"That's weird." Carlos took the whistle and, after cleaning it off, gave it a test blow himself. Sure enough, the whistle didn't make any noise. "I will see what I can do. Hopefully, I can have it fixed by tonight. I will bring it to you at the dorm."

"Sure." Jay gave a small wave before exiting the room. If Carlos had been paying attention, he might have noticed the devilish gleam in Jay's eyes, but instead, he was overwhelmed by the mystery of the silent whistle.

* * *

Dude was having a pretty ordinary day when he heard the first high pitched whistle pierce the air. Only one thought ran through his head when he heard the sounds; treats.

Dude sprinted from the Tourney field and into the grounds where the two legs usually hung out. As always during this time of day, they were sitting at stone tables or beneath trees and eating a wide variety of food. A couple of them were even excited to see the dog, but Dude sprinted right past them and their weird calls. He needed to find the source of the sound.

A second whistle pierced the air and Dude realized that whoever had the treat was inside the buildings that the two legs were almost always in. Dude ran through the feet of surprised two legs, leaving a path of chaos in his wake as the two legs tried to move or would trip on him and fall. There were a couple of times that the two legs tried to grab him with their hands, but Dude simply dodged out of the way. He had a goal and he would not be deterred.

Carlos fiddled with the whistle, trying to see if there was a way to open the thing without having to use any tools. When he failed to find one, he decided to shake the thing and see if that worked. He gave the whistle another blow and still couldn't hear anything.

Dude was sprinting up the stairs when he heard the next whistle. The fact that this one was louder than the rest told him that he was on the right track. As he sprinted the halls of the upper floor of the building, there were definitely fewer two legs moving around, but more of these ones seemed to be trying to grab him. Dude had never seen this area before but figured that it must be alright since the treat sounds were calling him up here.

Dude stopped short when a familiar smell crossed his nose. Somewhere in this area, the two-legs with the treat was hiding, waiting for him. He watched as a couple of two-legs opened one of the doors to a room, releasing a fresh batch of the smell into the hall. Dude bolted for the door like there was no tomorrow.

Carlos decided that the whistle was going to take quite a bit of work and figured he should at least get some food first. He threw on his jacket and dropped the whistle in his pocket. As he made his way to one door, the other opened and Evie and Doug walked into the room, happily chatting. But just as Carlos was about to say hi, his worst fear came sprinting into the room. It came with fangs bared and claws scraping against the floor. He threw open the door and bolted into the hall.

Evie and Doug had been having a very pleasant conversation about how different gases affected the body when they entered the Robotics Club classroom. Neither was prepared for a dog to rush past them into the room. Doug recognized Dude immediately, but that did nothing but confuse him more. Dude never left the Tourney Field without a reason. Now here he was tearing into the room like he was hunting.

But both Doug and Evie were even less prepared to see Carlos throw open the other door and sprint out of the room yelling, Dude following close behind. Doug turned to Evie and exchanged a confused look with her.

"What was that about?" He asked her.

"I don't know, but we should probably follow them," Evie replied. She and Doug took off after Carlos, both surprised at his speed.

Carlos headed straight for the stairs, not really thinking of a place to go, just trying to put as much distance between himself and the dog as possible. When he hit the stairs, he slid down the hand rail sideways. It never occurred to him how he was going to stop at the bottom. He crashed into someone at the base of the stairs, but when he saw Dude sprinting down the stairs, Carlos bolted again. He didn't even realize that he had dropped the whistle that Jay had given him to work on.

Lonnie was with one of her friends, discussing possible dresses for the Coronation when a blur of black, white, and red smashed into her, knocking her to the floor. Whatever it was got off her quickly enough, but as Lonnie rose off the floor, she noticed a number of things at the same time.

First, the blur of black and white was actually a shorter boy who was now sprinting away in terror. The next thing she noticed was Dude, the school mascot, sprinting after the kid like there was no tomorrow. Third, was that there was an object beneath her hand as she picked herself up off the floor. When she raised it to look at it, she saw that it was Dude's dog whistle. The shorter kid must have dropped it, but why was he now running away?

As she pondered everything and assured her friend that she was alright, she saw Doug and his new girlfriend coming down the stairs fast.

"What's going on?" Lonnie asked.

"Not sure. Hey, which way did Carlos go?" Doug asked, looking around.

"The kid in the weird black and white clothes? He just took off that way." Lonnie pointed down the hall toward the grounds. The sounds of raised voices and crashing seemed to confirm her statement. Doug and Evie took off without a second thought. Lonnie apologized profusely to her friend before following suit.

Carlos had taken a left as he passed through the door, nearly crashing into the banister that separated the raised locker area from the tables below, and bolted past several students. Any student unlucky enough to be caught in his way was shoved to the side as Carlos ducked and weaved around the crowd. Dude matched him for every turn, nose zeroed in on the smell of the treat. Doug, Evie, and Lonnie followed the path of chaos, apologizing to disgruntled and confused students as they passed.

As Carlos entered one of the other buildings, a teacher stepped out of his office holding coffee and papers to grade. Neither Carlos nor the teacher noticed each other until Carlos slammed into him, knocking the teacher to the ground and sending papers and coffee everywhere. Carlos was slightly irritated by crashing into a second person, but Dudes barks overrode all caution in his head, sending Carlos sprinting down the hall again. Dude ran over the man as if he was just part of the floor. Evie also sprinted past the teacher. On the Isle, being knocked down by people in a rush or in a panic was a regular occurrence, especially if you were on the younger and smaller side. But Lonnie and Doug both rushed up to the teacher, Doug gathering up the scattered papers while Lonnie helped the Teacher stand up. After making sure that he was okay, as well as several apologies on behalf of Carlos, Doug and Lonnie took off again. After several seconds of searching and listening to complaining students who had been caught up in the chaos, Doug and Lonnie found Evie holding a struggling Dude near a utility closet. Evie had both arms around the dog, which fought with everything he had to break free.

"What…happened?" Doug asked as he and Lonnie tried to catch their breath

"Carlos is hiding inside the closet, holding it closed. Apparently, he thinks this," motioning her head toward Dude, "is a ravenous beast that is going to rip his throat out." Evie's voice was mostly one of concern, but annoyance was starting to creep in. Between the struggling dog and the panicking fourteen-year-old in the closet, Evie was definitely wishing she had more than two hands.

"Isn't his mom Cruella De Vil?" Doug replied, netting his brows in confusion.

"Just take the dog," Evie didn't wait for a response before shoving Dude into Doug's arms. She then walked up to the closet door and gave it a small knock.

"Carlos, we have Dude under control, you can come out now." After a couple of seconds, Carlos peaked his head out of the closet, flush with embarrassment as he realized he now had an audience, but his eyes widened when he realized that Doug was actually holding the struggling beast.

"Why are you holding him? He's gonna attack you." Carlos may have exited the closet but he still clung to the wall behind him for dear life, locking his eyes on Dude. Doug and Lonnie both exchanged looks before looking back at the terrified boy.

"Carlos, this is Dude. He is the school mascot and is the most wonderful dog in all of Auradon. Well, most wonderful, non-speaking dog in all of Auradon." As she spoke, she slowly walked up to Carlos and took his arm. Carlos hesitantly allowed her to pull him closer to the four-legged animal. She lifted his arm so that his hand was over Dudes head. Dude looked at the hand and gave it a couple of licks before straining to get his head in the pocket that the treat smell was coming from. Lonnie looked at where Dude's head was pointing.

"What do you have in your pocket?" She asked.

"Nothing," Carlos replied, reaching a hand into his pocket to show her. Carlos eyes widened and then furrowed as he pulled the bone from his pocket. Upon seeing the treat, Dude doubled his efforts, this time managing to squirm out of Doug's arms. He jumped and grabbed the bone from Carlos' hand and instantly lay down and began to munch on it.

"Jay," Carlos whispered as a glare took over his face.

"What do you mean?" Evie asked.

"Jay dropped by a little before you guys did, asking me to fix a broken whistle. He said it was important for the Tourney team and that he needed it finished today. He must have snuck the bone into my jacket pocket when I wasn't looking."

Lonnie remembered the whistle that she had picked up and lifted it up.

"Is this the whistle?" She asked hesitantly, already guessing the answer. She did not like where this was going."

"Yeah, that's it. Thanks for grabbing it. I didn't realize that I had dropped it."

"This whistle isn't broken." Lonnie raised the whistle to her lips and gave it a small blow. Dude raised his head for a second before going back to his treat.

"This is a dog whistle. We use it during the Tourney games to get Dude down to the field. It makes sounds beyond that of what humans can hear." As Lonnie explained, Carlos' glare deepened and darkened.

"How did Jay get his hands on it?" Carlos asked his voice dangerously low.

"I showed him where to find it yesterday because I wanted him to meet Dude. But the shed is locked. How did he get in?" Lonnie asked.

"Back on the Isle, Jay was a master thief who stole for Jafar's junk shop. A lock on a shed isn't going to stop him." Carlos explained. His body relaxed as the adrenaline burned itself out. Carlos was still upset but was no longer surprised. He knew there would be repercussions for telling Ben about the heist.

"We should tell Ben about this. Jay needs to know that he can't get away with this." Evie piped up.

"No, don't." Carlos pleaded. "That can only end with Jay being sent back to the Isle. Even if he isn't, if he found out that I ratted him out a second time, Jay would just do something worse."

"A second time?" Doug asked. Evie's face lit up with realization.

"You didn't?" She gasped.

"Well, I had to. They had already been caught on the security cameras at the museum. It was only a matter of time before he found out. It was either tell him the truth or risk all four of us being sent back. Besides, I only told Ben and Audrey and Ben said he would handle it."

Lonnie and Doug exchanged confused looks before Lonnie asked what was on both their minds.

"What are you talking about? Who did you rat out?" Lonnie asked.

"Before the four of us were picked up and brought here, we were given one job by our parent's. Find and steal Fairy Godmother's Wand. Mal and Jay tried to steal it from the museum a couple of days ago but they failed. Jay's arm was spotted on the security camera and Ben asked me about it. I figured I could trust him, so I told him the truth about what our parent's wanted to do. Jay and Mal must have figured out it was me who told and decided to pull this prank on me."

"How did they know you were afraid of dogs?" Doug asked, motioning toward Dude, who was finishing up his tiny bone treat.

"They have always known. It's not exactly a well-kept secret back on the Isle."

Lonnie thought for a second. To say she was mad was an understatement. Not only was she mad about the prank, but also about her part in the events and how Jay had taken advantage of what she had shown him. When she saw him again, there would be more than a few choice words.


	9. Chapter 9

**What's up everybody. I know I said an upload every two weeks, but the bulk of this one was already done and it's shorter than most of the others, so I figured I would upload it real quick. THe next Chapter should be in two weeks depending on how things go.**

 **Also, a shout out to malfoyravenclaw555 and Malice-Bree-1998 for reviewing my last chapter. Everyone, please continue to review and message me any questions, suggestions, or critiques you have relating to my story.**

* * *

After giving Carlos the dog whistle, Jay had gone to hide in one of the nearby classrooms. After a couple of minutes, he was beginning to wonder if Carlos had even blown the whistle. But soon, he had a second concern. The Blue Princess and the Kid with Glasses from their first day at Auradon were walking up to the classroom. Right as Jay contemplated cutting them off, he heard a scratching sound shooting up the hallway. He watched the two move to the side as Dude charged into the classroom and then heard the other door to the classroom being thrown open. He watched from his hiding place as the Blue Princess and her companion raced down the hall. He waited till the sounds had faded before leaving his hiding place and going back into the Robotics Club room.

Jay made a beeline for the desk where he had seen Carlos store the plans and quickly pulled them out. He had been wrong about the device. It wasn't being built to punch holes in walls. Carlos was building it to punch holes in the barrier around the Isle of the Lost. How the squirt had come up with these plans all on his own was anyone's guess as far as Jay was concerned, but once it was finished, there was no way that Carlos would be stuck on the Isle of the Lost. Jay decided that it was probably best to tell Mal about this.

He put the plans back where Carlos had stashed them and quickly made his way out of the room.

* * *

By supper time, word had spread across the entire school about Carlos sprinting through the halls with Dude close behind. Most of the students had assumed it was just some Villain Kid shenanigans. Only a select few knew what had really gone down. When Mal had heard about it from Jane, she quickly went to her room so she could laugh openly. A couple of minutes later, there was a knock at the door. She opened the door to find Jay, who was looking quite pleased with himself.

"I heard about what happened to Carlos," Mal said with a malicious grin.

"Yeah, that was horrible," Jay said smiling as Mal let him in and closed the door behind him.

"Tell me, was he terrified?"

"Oh, yeah. He'll think twice before he goes spilling our plans to Ben again. You know he knocked over a teacher?" Jay sat down on one of the beds.

"Yeah, I heard the teacher went straight to Fairy Godmother. Jane said that Fairy Godmother was not happy." Mal took a seat on her own bed.

"Yeah, the whole thing went better than planned, but for more than one reason," Jay replied with a knowing look. Mal's leaned forward, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. The squirt is building a machine that can go through the barrier around the Isle of the Lost." While Jay's face lit up, Mal's dropped in annoyance.

"Be serious Jay." She rose from the bed and began to walk around the room aimlessly.

"I am being serious, Mal."

"You're telling me that Carlos De Vil, the Coward of Dragon Hall, is building a machine that can go through the most powerful barrier in all of Auradon." The sarcasm was thick in Mal's voice as she spoke. She was not in the mood for this joke. But Jay's face told her that he wasn't kidding in the least.

"Yes. I even saw the plans. He is working with the Robotics Club to build it."

"Wait, so now you're telling me that the Auradon kids are in on it too? Why would they help him build a device that could destroy the barrier that is protecting them from all the villains in the world?"

"From what I saw, it won't destroy the barrier. It will only allow people to pass through it." Jay explained. "As far as why the AK's are helping him, I am certain is their way of winning him over. This is probably some kind of bribe or deal they have with him."

"Well, that would help explain why he went and told Ben about everything. Let's say for one second that I believe you." Mal started as she leaned against the bed post of the bed that Jay was sitting on. "How would that information come in useful?"

"It means that if we are sent back to the Isle, we can use it get off of the Isle and try and steal the wand again," Jay replied, his trademark grin lighting up his face.

"Does it only work on the barrier?" Mal asked, a thought running through her head.

"I don't know. I don't see why it couldn't work on…ohhh." Jay smiled as realized what Mal was thinking.

"Alright, if what you say is true, then it's our best bet for getting our hands on the wand. We need to lay low, very low, until the squirt finishes building. We can't even pull any more pranks on him, got it?" Mal used the same voice as her mother used when she spoke to her minions.

Jay gave her a nod and then stood and stretched.

"Well, since it looks like we are going to be here for a couple of days, I guess I should head back to my dorm and get ready for tomorrow." Jay made his way for the door.

"Remember, no more retaliation against Carlos." Mal called.

"Yeah, yeah," Jay replied as he left the room.

* * *

As Jay headed back to his own dorm, he came across Lonnie speaking to Jane. Both girls were smiling as Jay approached, but when Jane noticed Jay, a look of disgust crossed over her face. Lonnie, seeing the face, turned to see Jay and her face grew stern. Jay knew something was up right away.

"I'll talk to you later, Jane," Lonnie said in a no nonsense tone.

"Hello, Jane." Jay greeted, throwing up his most flirtatious smile. Jane simply glared more deeply at him.

"We need to talk." Lonnie started walking at a surprisingly fast pace. Jay was surprised at how much effort he had to put in just to keep up with her.

"Sure. What about?" Jay asked as they walked.

"You'll see," Lonnie replied. The two remained quiet for the rest of the walk to the Tourney Field. The sun was setting fast and no one was at the Tourney Field, as most of the students were either still at supper or retreating to their dorms. Finally, smack in the middle of the Tourney Field, Lonnie stopped. Jay wouldn't show it, but he was a little winded by the walk and was happy that Lonnie had stopped.

"You good?" Lonnie asked him.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Jay asked her.

"Good to hear." A second later, Jay was surprised to find fist striking him in the face. Jay was sent sprawling across the grass of the Tourney Field, more out of surprise than anything. On the Isle, he had always been ready for fights to break out in the blink of an eye, but he had let down his guard in Auradon because he was surrounded by nothing but princes. He had stopped expecting surprise attacks altogether. So he was very much caught off guard by the punch, especially since it came from a princess. As he looked up from the ground, he saw a glare on Lonnie's face that would give the most powerful villains back on the Isle a run for their money.

"That is for all the trouble you caused today," Lonnie spoke evenly. She had learned a long time ago from her parent's to never let anyone see how angry you really are. No matter the anger, you should always keep yourself in check.

"What are you talking about?" Jay asked.

"I know you gave Carlos the dog whistle and tricked him into blowing it, that you knew he was afraid of dogs, and that you were trying to get back at him for telling Ben about the heist that you and Mal tried to pull."

Jay remained silent, but his face spoke volumes. He knew full well the jig was up.

"Not only did you terrify Carlos, you nearly got him expelled. Evie, Doug, and I all had to explain to Fairy Godmother that Carlos was afraid of dogs and didn't mean to cause all the chaos he did. On top of that, we had to do it without telling her your involvement in it, because Carlos is afraid of you and that you and Mal will get him and Evie sent back to the Isle. Those two have more than earned their place here in Auradon while you have done nothing but create chaos in your wake. And don't think for a second that Carlos didn't tell me about all the stuff you have stolen since you've been here."

As Lonnie spoke, Jay was surprised by how he was feeling. There was tugging in his chest. He was no longer mad about being caught or worried about how he was going to get out of trouble. For the first time, he was actually sad that he had disappointed someone. Even with Mal, their relationship had always been a double edged sword, with each being as likely to betray the other as help them. He hadn't realized until now that he actually cared about what Lonnie thought of him. Jay wasn't sure why he cared, but he knew he did. So for the first time in his life, he uttered a phrase that was all but forbidden on the Isle of the Lost.

"I'm sorry." He said as if the words were some kind of new food that he wasn't sure if he liked or not. He wasn't sure what he expected to happen, but Lonnie continuing to glare at him wasn't it.

"It's not me you need to apologize too." She said soberly, before holding out her hand to Jay. Jay didn't need help getting up, but he took the hand all the same. After he was on his feet, Lonnie began to briskly walk away. This time, Jay knew better than to try and keep up.

* * *

As Jay returned to the dorm, he was surprised to hear barking from within his dorm room. When he walked in, he saw Carlos playing with Dude. Jay stopped and stared for a second before Carlos noticed him, his smile immediately giving way to a look of caution and fear. Jay closed the door to the dorm behind him and crossed the room to where he had hidden his haul. He found the laptop that Carlos had messed with on the day after they arrived and pulled it out. He crossed the room to where Carlos sat on his bed and held it out to him.

"Here," Jay said reluctantly. Carlos was wary. In all the years that he had known Jay, Jay had never given anyone anything.

"What is going on?" Carlos asked.

"Just take the stupid thing before I change my mind," Jay yelled, shoving the laptop into Carlos' hands and going back to his stash. As Jay began to gather everything up into a bag, Carlos looked on in bewilderment. He couldn't understand what was going on, but the look on Jay's face told him it was a good idea to not say anything. After Jay had everything in the sack, he headed for the door. Before he opened it, he took a deep breath.

"Look, I'm sorry about pulling that prank on you today, alright." Jay didn't even bother to look at the boy.

"Thank you," Carlos said the surprise evident in his voice.

"Don't get any funny ideas; I am not doing this for you." With that, Jay headed out, leaving a very confused Carlos alone with Dude.

The next morning at breakfast, Jay, Mal, and Jane were all sitting together at a table when Lonnie walked up and sat down next to Jay.

"So I heard a bunch of people today found their lost stuff outside of their doors this morning. You know anything about that?" Lonnie asked. She was already guessing at the answer because of the defeated look Jay had on him. It was the first morning since the VK's had arrived in Auradon when Jay didn't have his trademark grin up.

"Not a thing." Jay knew better than to admit the truth with Mal sitting at the table with him. After Carlos and Evie had both turned against her, he didn't need her getting ideas about his loyalty, or lack there of.

"I didn't think so." She replied, sliding a note under his hand when no one was looking. After that, she got up and walked away. While Mal and Jane found the whole exchange a little weird, Jay glanced at the note under his hand. It only had two words on it, but those two words lifted his entire day

"Thank You."


	10. Chapter 10

**All right everyone. I am finally back. And I have a lot to say personally.**

 **First, sorry to everyone for the MAJOR delay with this chapter. Let me start by saying that I live in Texarkana, Texas. While my town was not actually hit by Hurricane Harvey, one of the reasons for the delay was that I took a trip down there to help with relief efforts. The second reason was that this chapter was entirely unplanned. In my original plans, I found a gap in the story between two points that I really wanted to cover and felt that I owed it to you to fill that gap with story rather than just bounce over it. So this chapter and the next couple are all from scratch. I am hoping that they meet your expectations and that you like them. Because the third reason for this delay is that I lost a steam for this project the last couple of weeks. I have been really distracted and part of me didn't want to finish this story. But I am going to finish this story for you guys. Let me know if there is anything that I need to work on or change.**

 **Second, thanks to Maliffacter0605-XxKINDSOULSxX, Eves, malfoyravenclaw555, and my mystery guest for reviewing my last chapter. Please continue to send me your reviews, questions, comments, and concerns. Good luck out there everyone and if you are in the path of hurricanes or have been hit by one already, I will continue to pray for you.**

* * *

The Day of the Prank was also not easy on Ben. He had not slept well the night before because he was concerned about how easy it was to convince Mal and Jay not to try and steal the wand again. Then, after lunch, he had been summoned to Fairy Godmothers office to help deal with a teacher who had been knocked over by a student. Ben had not been expecting to find Carlos, Evie, Doug, and Lonnie in the office. After a very long conversation, with Grumpy calling for Carlos to serve two hundred hours of detention, they had finally managed to work things out and Carlos was let off with a warning and an apology about not being warned that the school mascot was a dog, which was Carlos biggest fear up until Doug and Lonnie had convinced him otherwise. While everyone was about to leave, Fairy Godmother asked Ben to stay behind. Ben had barely closed the door when Fairy Godmother began speaking.

"Prince Ben, I cannot say that I am happy about how this whole thing is turning out." Fairy Godmother said in a downtrodden tone.

"What do you mean?" Ben had liked the progress the VK's seemed to be making.

"Since their arrival, Mal has been casting spells on girls hair, Jane has asked me to use the wand to make her look prettier, there has been a sharp increase in the number of student items that have gone missing, and now Carlos has trampled one of our most vocal teachers."

"I do see what you are saying, Fairy Godmother, but with all due respect, I don't think that things are going that badly. Carlos has joined the Robotics Club, Evie is quickly becoming one of the smartest students in the school, and Jay has improved our tactics in the Tourney Team." Ben gave Fairy Godmother his most confident smile. But in the back of his head, he was also becoming a little wary. The more he gained Carlos' trust, the more he learned about the VK's, which was proving to not be a good thing. Ben was almost certain that, despite everyone's insistence to the contrary, Jay and Mal had been involved with Dude chasing Carlos. Dude was known for being playful and curious, but Dude rarely wandered into the classroom areas, as that usually led to him being shooed out by both students and teachers. The last time he had done it was when the Coach had forgotten to give Dude a treat after a game. Dude had followed the Coach's scent all the way to Fairy Godmothers Office.

"Regardless, I am not sure I like how…eventful things have become in the school lately. If there is anything you can do to calm things down, please do." Fairy Godmother was playing nice because it was Ben who had signed the proclamation that the Villain Kids be allowed to come to the school, but Ben understood that she was not interested in figuring out how deep the rabbit hole went.

"I will try my hardest to prevent any further incidents." But even as Ben made the promise and was excused from the room, he had a growing suspicion that things were just starting up.

So when Ben found Audrey waiting in the hall for him, he was not in the least bit looking forward to any conversation with her.

"So, are the VK's going home finally?" Audrey asked with just a little too much glee.

"No? Why would they be?" Ben responded.

"Seriously, Benny-boo? One of them tackled a teacher. How are they not all being sent home?"

"Carlos," Ben emphasized, "Was being chased by a dog. Apparently, he has a fear of dogs."

"So he says. His mother is Cruella De Vil. I bet he just wants to turn Dude into a fur coat."

"Audrey please," Ben snapped before he could stop himself, "just leave them alone." Ben walked off, trying to keep his exhaustion and frustration at her at bay. He knew it wasn't just Audrey who felt that way and he knew it wasn't her fault. It was just the way Auradon as a whole had become. There was no possible way that villains could be good. But Ben knew better and was willing to fight all of Auradon for the chance to help those in need. He was just hoping that it wouldn't come to that.

As Ben stormed away, Audrey became furious. She knew that Ben was not going to give up on the Villain Kids. So it was time for her to intervene.

* * *

Carlos, Evie, and Doug were in the Robotics Club the next day, discussing the reappearance of all the stuff that had gone missing when Audrey came into the room. Her forced smile that she usually wore around the villain kids was gone and in its place was a stern look that showed that she meant business. Carlos had seen a similar face on his mother countless times. Evie and Doug both shivered slightly at the look.

"Alright you two, listen up." Audrey didn't yell or raise her voice because that was un-ladylike, but her voice held no waiver in it. "I want the two of you to stay away from King Ben."

"Why?" Evie asked, exchanging a confused look with Doug.

"Because ever since you VK's showed up, everything has been going wrong. All the girls are starting to look prettier than me, Ben is caring more about you guys than me, and you tried to steal Fairy Godmother's wand."

"When did you guys try to steal the wand?" Evie asked, turning to Carlos and raising her brow.

"Jay and Mal did a couple of nights ago. I just tried to make sure we didn't get into trouble for it." Carlos was getting nervous and starting to shiver uncontrollably. Audrey was reminding him too much of his mother.

Evie could tell something was wrong and decided that this conversation needed to end quickly.

"Alrighty. Well other than Carlos here, none of us VK's have spent any real time with Ben…"

"Prince Ben."

"With Prince Ben and last I checked that wasn't even Carlos' doing. It sounds like you need to talk to Ben."

"Don't tell me what I need or don't need to do. I can handle Benny-boo all on my own. It's you villains who are the problem. Everything you touch turns evil and everyone you come into contact with changes for the worse. Soon all of Auradon will be contaminated and then it will be up to people like me to clean it all up."

"Their villains, Doug. What do they know about fair?" Audrey asked him.

"These villains," Doug started, making quotation marks with his fingers, "Have so far treated me than some of the Royals I know. At least they don't come up to me asking me to do their homework for them."

Audrey looked aghast at Doug's outburst, but she quickly turned back to the VK's.

"See what I mean. Doug used to be quiet and nice. Now he is yelling at me. This is all your fault." Audrey accused, pointing at Evie. Evie glared deeply and rose from the table when both Carlos and Doug each put a hand her arms.

"Don't even bother. She wouldn't listen anyway." Doug continued to glare at Audrey as he spoke. Audrey simply shook her head as if Doug were rambling nonsense that she couldn't understand.

"It's time for me to put a stop to this nonsense. I am telling those other two this as well. If you want to stay in Auradon, stay away from Ben." With that final looming threat, Audrey left the room.

Evie immediately turned to Carlos, concern replacing the glare that she had been wearing.

"Carlos, you alright?" She asked as the boy collapsed into a shivering fit.

"Yeah, she just reminded me a lot of my mother." Carlos rubbed his gloved hands against his arms. Evie grabbed his jacket from the chair he had hung it on and wrapped it around him like a blanket.

"I need to warn Ben. He is already on thin ice as it is." Doug spoke quickly as he rose from his seat and made his way to the door.

"What do you mean?" Evie asked. Doug stopped at the door. His face was full of debate. After a second he turned to her.

"Ben's proclamation was not met with a good response. If you all are sent home, then his proclamation will be considered a failure. If it fails, the people of Auradon will question his every move for his entire reign." With that explanation, Doug left quickly. Evie took a second to wonder if this was how Alice felt when the bunny ran off singing "I'm late, I'm late."

* * *

As Doug raced to find Ben, Audrey made her way to the outside cafeteria. Mal had spent the last couple of days there doing her magic on girls that Lonnie brought to her. When she arrived, she saw Mal and Jane sitting at a table eating while Lonnie spoke to Jay underneath a nearby tree. Audrey noticed that while Mal wasn't currently casting spells on girls' hair, there were several girls nearby that had really fabulous looking hair. This observation did nothing to calm her mood. She slammed her hands against the table top, shaking the trays and silverware and gaining the attention of everyone in the immediate vicinity.

"I want you villains to stay away from Ben." She said, ignoring the stares of everyone nearby. Jay and Lonnie approached the table while several girls nearby began to whisper. Jane got a worried look, but Mal smiled.

"Excuse me?" Mal's smile may have looked natural, but it was taking everything in her not to retaliate right at that second.

"I want you and the other VK's to stay away from Ben."

"Why? You worried I'll put Benny-boo under a spell that will let him see how beautiful you actually are?" Mal mocked. Audrey seemed lost for a second before realizing the implied insult.

"No! You VK's are making him act differently and I don't like it. He spends more time worrying about the four of you then he does hanging out with me. You four are corrupting him and it is up to me to stop it here and now before Benny-boo, I mean Prince Ben, decides that you four are more important than the rest of Auradon."

"Let's get something straight Princess. I can count on one hand how many times I have talked to Ben since I arrived. I am not interested in your boyfriend or his worries or how he treats you. If you ask me, it sounds like he doesn't care about you anyway." Mal's smile never faded, and her tone was joking, but there was a cruel edge to her speech and movements. Audrey leaned in real close so that only she and Mal could hear.

"Stay away from Ben or I will tell everyone what you and the others did at the museum." It was Audrey's turn to smile cruelly as the smile finally disappeared from Mal's face. But the look that replaced it was not fear or surrender like she had been expecting. It was a look of fury the likes of which she had never seen before. The likes of which only a villain could muster.

"You think I care about that?" Mal whispered darkly, "I am the child of the most famous and powerful villain in all of Auradon. Of course, I tried to steal the wand. But you know what else I am good at? Curses. So threaten me like that again and I will make you the laughing stock of not just Auradon Prep, but all of Auradon." To emphasize her point, Mal made sure to shove her spell book into the side of Audrey's hand. "Unlike you, I have no problem using magic to get what I want."

Mal rose from the table quickly, causing Audrey to back up quite a bit out of fear.

"How about you go do your makeup. It looks like everyone here is outdoing you in the beauty department." Mal's insult earned gasps and laughs from the students around them and a humiliated glare from Audrey.

"This isn't over," Audrey replied before storming off. As the students around her started to cheer and laugh more freely, Mal watched Audrey's retreating figure.

"You're right. It's not over, not by a long shot." Mal whispered under her breath.

* * *

During the confrontation outside, Doug found Ben in the Library. Ben had just barely managed to open up his school book when Doug quickly and uncharacteristically sat down across from him.

"Ben, we need to talk." Ben set down his pencil and gave Doug his full attention. No matter how hard he tried, Ben couldn't hide his exhaustion and annoyance from Doug. Doug felt bad but knew that Ben was the only one who could keep things from getting worse.

"What about?" Ben asked as politely as he could muster.

"Audrey is threatening to expose how the Villian Kids tried to steal Fairy Godmother's Wand if they don't stay away from you." Even as Doug spoke, Ben covered his face with his hands. His annoyance had bloomed into full-fledged frustration. When he had learned that all the missing items had been returned during the night, he thought that today was going to be easier. But Doug's single sentence had sent that dream down the toilet.

Ben, without uttering a word to Doug, began to gather up his stuff and put it in his bag. After that was done, he threw the bag over his shoulder and looked at Doug.

"Come on, you can explain it to me on the way to find Audrey," Ben said as he headed for the door. He ignored the voice in his head that was telling him that this was not going to end well.

They found Audrey with several of her own friends at a table in the inside cafeteria. When the girls saw Ben coming, all but Audrey seemed excited. Audrey's face dropped to concern, especially when she saw Doug following closely behind Ben.

"Hey, you girls mind if I talk to my girlfriend alone for a minute?" Ben asked politely to Audrey's friends. The girls moved to another table with a giggle.

"Benny-boo, shouldn't you be doing homework?" Audrey asked in her most innocent voice while holding her hands across the table to try and hold Ben's hands.

"I was until Doug here brought me some very interesting information. Something about how you are telling the Villain Kids to stay away from me or else?" Ben explained his tone even. This was not a conversation he wanted to have, but part of him knew that this was eventually how things were going to have to go.

"Benny-boo, I am doing this for us. Those Villains will only bring trouble and they need to keep their distance from us before we start acting like them. We need to be the shining example of goodness for the entire school and we can not do that if we are seen hanging around their kind."

"You wrong. I invited them here to help them get away from real villains and see what life is like in Auradon, not to ostracize them because of where they come from. Goodness, True Goodness, is giving everyone a chance, regardless of where they come from." Audrey's face dropped and she retracted her hands.

"You shouldn't have invited them at all. They will tear apart the very fabric of Auradon and only we are the only ones who can stop them from spreading their taint."

"Just because they come from the Isle of the Lost does not mean they are tainted. It just means that they have been raised differently than us. I will not abandon them just because they remind people of times long past."

"So are you choosing to side with the enemies of Auradon?" She asked this a lot more loudly than she had intended drawing the attention of the crowd around them. But she needed Ben to realize what he was choosing. Unfortunately, Ben met the challenge in all but outrage. He spoke loudly enough for most of the cafeteria to hear him.

"I am choosing to stand for all the citizens of Auradon. I am not just going to protect the Royal families while their subjects and the children of their enemies suffer for crimes they didn't commit. The Sidekicks and Villain Kids are just as important to Auradon as any of the Royal families. Possibly even more so."

"If you choose them, then you can say goodbye to me forever." Audrey challenged as she rose from the table. By this point, the entire cafeteria was quiet. Even the staff had halted working to watch the affairs.

"Don't make me choose Audrey. That will only hurt people." Ben pleaded, ignoring the crowd around them.

"Choose Ben. Me or the VK's?" Audrey yelled.

Ben glared at her before grabbing his bag and storming toward the cafeteria exit.

"Answer me, Ben."

"I am," Ben yelled without looking back. Silence overtook the cafeteria for a moment as Ben left, followed closely by Doug. Audrey fell into her seat as realization overtook her. Ben had chosen them over her. She shook off her friends consoling hands as they tried to comfort her. Eventually, things returned to normal in the cafeteria, but a lot of people stayed away from the table where Audrey sat. Some stay away out of concern or respect. But some stayed away out of anger, their scornful looks the only way that Audrey could tell that they were not happy with what she had done. Audrey grabbed her stuff and left the cafeteria, convincing herself that those scornful looks were from people who didn't know any better. She refused to believe otherwise.


	11. Chapter 11

If Mal had learned one thing from her time on the Isle of the Lost, it was to be observant. So after Audrey left, Mal kept a very close eye on the way the wind was blowing. Students all around her were starting to whisper about how what had happened. What she hadn't been prepared for was when Ben appeared. His face was contorted with barely controlled rage and everybody could see it. Students moved off to the side and quieted down as he passed. Mal watched as he made his way toward the Tourney Field, then she listened to whispers that followed. All the students seemed to be chatting about some kind of argument between Ben and Audrey.

While Mal didn't normally care about such things as squabbles between lovers, she did recognize a power play to be made. If she could get control of Ben, she would have Auradon in the palm of her hand when the barrier around the Isle fell.

Jay could see the look on Mal's face even before she rose from her seat. It was a look any VK would recognize. There was a power play to be made and Mal was going for it. Jay had heard the whispers too, but he feigned ignorance when Mal took off after Ben and when one of Lonnie friends came to her about the fight between Ben and Audrey in the cafeteria. Jay knew exactly what was going down and couldn't wait to see what happened next.

Mal followed Ben as closely as she dared too. The Tourney Field was mostly empty aside from a couple of students studying in the bleachers, but she decided to it would still be best to go around the outside of the field instead. She watched as Ben crossed the field and went down a path in the trees that was across the field from the school grounds. She rushed to the path entrance the moment she lost sight of him to keep from losing him altogether.

The path was quiet save for the birds and woodland creatures that could be heard moving about. Mal thanked her lucky stars that Ben's suit was bright blue and yellow, causing it to stand out from the surrounding foliage. She watched the boy briskly make his way down the path, trying her best not to let him catch her. One of the key elements of power play is that the other person thinks everything is accidental and genuine. Otherwise, they get suspicious right away. Of course, she wasn't sure how that logic would hold up in Auradon, but she didn't have time to second guess herself now.

The trip took ten minutes, a wooden bridge, and two side paths to finish, but when Ben finally stopped walking; Mal was genuinely surprised at their surroundings. It was a river that cut through the forest. It was calm, peaceful, and surrounded by forest. It was fed by a small waterfall and went out of sight, calm and flat the whole way. The water was so clear that she could see all the plants. At the edge of the river, Prince Ben stood, surrounded by ancient pillars, the ruins of some unknown building from the past. Mal was so taken by the sight that she almost forgot that she hated this kind of beauty in the world.

But the next second reminded her why she had found this site. Ben's voice tore through the peace and tranquility like it was paper, sending the hidden woodland creatures scattering. He roared, yelled, and screamed out in anger. He ran his hands through his hair, threw rocks into the water, and even hit the pillars a couple of times with his bare hands. Mal knew Ben was expressive, but she never realized that the guy could be angry. She watched as Ben burned off his anger and then sat down on the ground, staring across the river. Mal decided it was safe to move in and make her play.

While Ben's fury had subsided, his confusion and annoyance over everything had not. He knew why Audrey was doing what she was doing, but it didn't make things any easier for him. He had thought that bringing the children of villains to Auradon would lead to an understanding between the two people, but the only results had been a couple of small victories shrouded by continuous trouble. He had been forced to all but bribe Carlos out of his shell and had made even less progress with the rest of the VK's. On top of that, the kids had been caught trying to steal Fairy Godmother's Wand. Ben was beginning to wonder if maybe, just maybe, everyone in Auradon had been right about the villains.

"So it is all an act," Mal observed, causing Ben to jump up and turn in surprise. He rubbed the back of his neck and his smile returned.

"Mal, what are you doing here?" Ben asked, curiosity overpowering his earlier thoughts.

"I was exploring the woods when I heard you. Were you roaring?" Mal teased, trying to keep things calm and natural. She leaned against a tree and crossed her arms, smiling at the prince's surprise.

"Um, yeah. Family trait."

"Apparently you got your father's temper too." Mal walked to the edge of the river, pretending to admire the view. "Nice place you got here. So is this your secret hideaway?"

"Yeah. My father says it is inappropriate for royalty to show too much negative emotion in public." Ben explained, stepping up beside Mal to look at the river.

"He would know better than anyone," Mal replied, sitting down at the edge of the river.

"Can't argue with that." Ben took a seat next to Mal. Something about Mal's presence was calming, like the rest of the world began to fade away.

"So want to talk about it? Or are we just going to sit here and pretend you are still the prince everyone else gets to see?" Mal knew that in order to complete the power play, she needed to get to the heart of the matter quickly. She mentally denied the part of her conscience that truly cared about Ben's problems.

"Oh, uh, let's just say that my first royal decree has hit a few road bumps." Ben's smile faltered as his troubles returned to the spotlight.

"Let me guess; this has something to do with Audrey coming up to me during lunch and telling me to stay away from you."

"I am sorry she did that. You see, she was there when Carlos told me about your plot to steal the wand. She didn't agree with my decree in the first place and you guys' actions have reinforced her thinking. She wants the four of you expelled and things to go back to the way they were."

"It sounds to me like all your problems would just go away if you sent us back, so why don't you?"

"Because despite its looks, Auradon isn't perfect. Even with the villains banished to the Isle of the Lost, Auradon still faces trouble. Many of the Sidekicks and Non-Royals have been getting overlooked and overworked by the Royal families of Auradon. My peers are ignorant of the growing divide between them and everyone else. And on top of all of that, there is an entire generation of children on the Isle of the Lost who are being punished for crimes they never committed. They despise us here in Auradon for what we have done to them and I can't say that I blame them."

"So, you are trying to create a true Utopia. No wonder you're stressed." Mal threw a rock into the water, watching the ripples travel across the smooth surface.

Ben laughed at the thought.

"I guess I am. You got any ideas?"

"Yeah, don't." Mal picked up another rock and threw it. Her mouth and thoughts took over any all ideas of why she was there. "It's impossible to create a perfect world. If it were possible, you wouldn't even need the Isle of the Lost in the first place. The whole point of Fairy Godmother and your parents put up the barrier were so that you Royals could live in a perfect world and look how well that is working out for you."

"So what would you suggest we do with the villains of the world? Let them roam free?" Ben's voice held no anger or sarcasm but was instead filled with curiosity. Mal was surprised, to say the least.

Part of her wanted to tell Ben that was exactly what he should do, but her thoughts returned to her current goal. She couldn't afford for Ben to become suspicious of her motive just yet.

"I'm not sure. I just know that there is no way to create a world where no one gets hurt." Having lost her interest in throwing rocks, she turned back to Ben.

"That may be true, but I have to try. It is my duty as king. I must ensure the safety and happiness of all of my subjects, even those on the Isle of the Lost." Ben rose as he spoke, spirit and hope filling his eyes as he thought about the future.

"I think I liked you more when you were roaring," Mal smirked as she made her way back toward the path.

"So you do care?" Ben asked. Mal stopped in her tracks at the question. She was glad that her back was to Ben because the question caused her to blush. She wasn't sure why she couldn't stop herself from having feelings for Prince Ben, but it was important that she get her feelings under control. True villains didn't love or care about people. They kept their eyes on the prize in case someone else tried to steal it first.

"You can think whatever you like. Just remember that your stupid decree brought me here." Mal tried to walk away again but was stopped as Ben grabbed her hand.

"Please don't go. I don't have anyone else to talk to about this whole thing." Mal turned to see a pleading look in Ben's eyes that she couldn't ignore. Her thoughts screamed at her to leave Ben here alone and head back to the school. She knew if she stayed that things would get confusing quickly. She knew she needed to leave.

"You know, I would totally love too, but we got to get back to the school before the next class starts. Otherwise, you are going to be in even more trouble," Mal replied, proud of her own deceit.

Ben pulled out his phone and checked the time. Sure enough, there was just enough time to get to his next class before it started. He dusted himself off, grabbed Mal's hand, and took off for the school. For the first time since arriving at the school, Mal was having fun as she and Ben raced against the clock to get back to school on time.

While Mal and Ben had been chatting in the forest, Audrey had gone to find Chad at the Tourney Field where he was hanging out with some of his fangirls. When Chad had seen Audrey's face, he knew something wasn't right. He politely asked his fans to excuse him and he met up with Audrey. Audrey had just finished explaining things to him and they were making their way back to the school when they saw Ben and Mal come racing out of the forest path, holding hands and smiling. Ben and Mal didn't even notice them as they raced for the school. Audrey fixed Mal with a glare and turned to Chad.

"You see! Not even an hour since my boyfriend ditched me and already she is moving in on him. Those villains are going to turn the entire school into their playground if we don't put them in their place. We Royals are in charge here and those villains are only here because of our goodwill. We, as the Royals of Auradon, need to put things back in order before the villains take over." Audrey spoke in an even tone, but the threat and malice in her voice were clear. Chad nodded.

"You're right. The villains were kicked out of Auradon once, we can do it again. Especially that Jay kid. He needs to be taught a lesson." Chad grimaced as he remembered how Jay had humiliated him at the Tourney Practice.

"But first," Audrey declared, trying to regain Chad's attention, "We need to get some help."

"I can think of some people who would be very glad to help out." Chad grinned as he spoke. Audrey looked towards the school. She couldn't wait to reap her vengeance against the villains for all the trouble they had caused her.


End file.
